


token, please

by jswoon2



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Movie Fusion, Background Relationships, Humor, M/M, Misunderstandings, POV Alternating, While You Were Sleeping AU, a little ooc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-03
Updated: 2015-07-03
Packaged: 2018-04-07 10:18:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4259610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jswoon2/pseuds/jswoon2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Love is fairly tall, fit, and all auburn curls or so Theon thinks until he meets Robb Stark's brother Jon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	token, please

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the 1995 movie While You Were Sleeping.
> 
> Theon goes a bit OOC but as seeing as his life is arguably less shitty than it is in the books, he has a little bit of room to be a bit happier and less of an ass (up until A Dance With Dragons) and the same with Sansa, who really needs to just needs a break.
> 
> This is only proof read by myself. It is not beta'd. If there're any major mistakes, please let me know.
> 
> Sidenote, this is the longest thing I've ever written and it took a lot of work. It doesn't follow the movie exactly but it hits pretty much all the main points. I hope it's still alright. Enjoy!

Theon knows the moment he sees the stranger that he's in love. The man is fairly tall, fit, and has lovely auburn curls that Theon wouldn't mind running his fingers through. If not for the glass between them he may have tried to do it before. (His sister would never let him live it down if it ever did happen. He’d have to move to Alaska to get away from her teasing if she was still around.) It doesn't even matter that they haven't talked. Theon knows what love feels like.

Love is this man showing up every day like clockwork to hand in his token for the train. Love is this man greeting him every morning no matter how adorably ruffled he seems. Love is fairly tall, fit, and all auburn curls. Love is what Theon feels when this man looks at him. There’s no doubt about it.

What Theon does know for sure about the man is his name. He overheard the man answering his phone once and instead of Theon's usual greeting he heard a, "This is Robb Stark," instead. Even though he was disappointed that he didn't get to hear Robb speak to him directly, just knowing his name was reward enough for his waiting. Waiting for his love to come around. Theon has heard of the Starks before. The Starks own a large company specializing in electronics. If Robb Stark is _that kind_ Stark, Theon understands that his soul mate is a busy man. Waiting is not a problem.

This morning is like most mornings. Robb comes to his window, a bit of a hop in his step, a coffee cup that has his name written in chicken scratch in one hand. He says a quick hello and slides the coin to Theon and goes on his way. Theon doesn't even manage to get out a hello back or even a smile until the man's back is retreating. Sad, really, but it doesn't make him feel any less in love. At the very least the view is nice. Robb has nice broad shoulders that any man or woman could appreciate.

Sighing at his pathetic self, Theon takes the token and plays with it. "Hello, to you, too," Theon says to himself. "What a lovely day we're having so far. Your hair looks amazing as per usual. Thanks for asking how my morning went. It was good. I love you. Have a lovely day at work." Laughing to himself, Theon straightens up in his chair and mentally prepares himself for the rest of his shift.

…

Theon blames it on the tree for being too heavy. He has it halfway up to his apartment from the window when his cat runs between his legs causing him to lose his grip just long enough to send the tree plummeting back down from where he had been trying to pull it up. The sound of a glass shattering makes Theon jump. Whatever happened down below doesn't sound good.

"A Christmas tree through a window," Roose sighs. He rubs his temples as he avoids looking at Theon directly. "You're lucky I have a cousin in the glass business. Consider it your Christmas gift, Theon."

Theon tries not to look so happy. He didn't need another bill on his plate but if Roose is going to take that worry off his hands, he isn't going to argue the point. Roose isn’t exactly the warmest landlord. However, at eighteen Roose was almost a bit better than dealing with his own father. Only now, there is no moving back. His father certainly wouldn’t - and can't now - pay for the window. Roose is even reluctant to handle it. Instead of offering to pay it himself, Theon says nothing. Playing it cool, Theon just nods in understanding.

With a wave of the hand, Roose dismisses Theon.

He gets two steps toward the door before he remembers the small package in his pocket. Theon pivots around on his heel and digs into his jean pocket to shyly slide a neatly wrapped gift box to Roose.

"Merry Christmas," Theon says.

"You shouldn't have."

Shrugging, Theon just hopes that Roose won't open the package right now. He knows Roose has expensive taste. Taste that he's sure his present isn't going to satisfy. A pair of cheap gold cufflinks is nothing compared to what Roose really likes. He's saved from doing anything at all when Ramsay slinks into the room, all greased hair and wandering eyes.

"Don't you have a present for me, Theon?" the bastard asks. He looks Theon up and down, not bothering to hide it at all. "I like your," Ramsay begins, pursing his lips when he sees there isn't anything decent he can comment on, "khaki."

In front of the landlord, Theon has to resist rolling his eyes. The khaki is a part of his uniform. "Thanks." He quickly leaves, ignoring the way Ramsay tries to touch him when he passes.

"Let's do dinner sometime," Ramsay calls out, whistling, his eyes on Theon's behind.

…

Rodrik never eats lunch with Theon. Bosses don’t usually eat with their employees on a daily basis. It's just not how the social ladder of the work place goes. Theon should've seen the red flag when his boss offered to take him out. The only plan on the agenda may have been a food cart on the sidewalk but still a red flag.

"You should be employee of the month," Rodrik begins. He misses Theon's incredulous look as he boldly tells the vendor he wants the usual. Theon does the same but the vendor only looks at him weird. "You would be a great employee of the month."

"I didn't know we had an employee of the month." Theon snorts. He takes his hot dog with all the works. If he's going to sit through whatever Rodrik is trying to bribe him through, he may as well enjoy his food.

Rodrik hesitates, taking a large bite of his hot dog first. "We'll make the title just for you."

A light bulb appears over Theon's head like a cartoon character. "I'm not working Christmas. I worked Thanksgiving and Easter when you asked. I am not doing Christmas too. You know this is my favorite holiday. I tell all the guys in the booth when winter is coming and everything. This is my holiday."

"C'mon, Theon. I have no choice. All the workers have some kind of family to get home to. I have a little girl that thinks she's going to be visited by Santa Claus to take care of not to mention my boys are coming back home for the holidays. Please," Rodrik waves his dog as he speaks, mustard dripping down his hands. "I'm only asking you because you, well, you're ..."

"The only one alone. I know." Theon wishes he knew how to bite his tongue better. "Fine, I'll work Christmas but this employee of the month thing better become real and involve some kind of benefits. Like a raise."

Rodrik laughs while clapping Theon roughly on the shoulder. "Nice try. I'll think about it."

Theon believes him and spends his whole ride to the station hoping that Rodrik really does follow through. A raise would be nice. Even a few more days off would be nice. Crossing his legs, he scoots over for a woman and her child to sit down next to him. It’s a tight fit but they smile at him for the space anyway. Two stops later Theon gets off to quick run to be on time for his shift.

As he slides into his chair, two hands fall onto his shoulders. Half turning, Theon sighs.

“What’re you doing here?” Jeyne asks. Out of all the employees who have worked in the same booth as Theon, Jeyne is his favorite.

“I got stuck with the Christmas shift today. I should be asking you that question. Why’re you here?” Theon raises a brow. Grinning at him, Jeyne steps aside to reveal her luggage in the doorway. “Oh. Going anywhere special?”

Jeyne looks hesitant but says, “Home to the family. I have a three hour train ride ahead of me coming up right now.”

Quickly they say their goodbyes just as the train rumbles on the tracks. Nobody really comes to a train station the day before Christmas. Theon doesn’t even expect to see Robb until he comes into line of sight. It isn’t even the same time that he usually comes around. In fact, Robb is late an hour and a half from his normal train. He doesn’t even have any kind of luggage in hand that would explain why someone so prompt would be late.

“Merry Christmas,” Robb says this time. He smiles at Theon, all pearly white teeth.

In the booth, Theon’s mouth just gapes like a fish. He’s stunned how Robb looks today in particular. Briefcase in hand, a warm scarf wrapped around his neck. The suit he’s wearing is perfectly tailored to fit his body, all lean lines of muscle (or so Theon has daydreamt before). Before Robb can get too far away, Theon jumps up from his chair, holding his hand longingly against the glass window.

“Merry Christmas to you too.” Theon resists the urge to facepalm. “Have a great day at work. I love you. Marry me? Think about it at least?”

Deflated, Theon sinks back into his chair. The next train is due to come in ten minutes. Robb is always promptly on time. Except for maybe those few days where he comes running up to the window with beautifully wind mussed hair.

“Oh, no.” Craning his neck, Theon sees three men gather around Robb. They walk up to the man so naturally that it might seem like, to some people, they they’re all friends but Theon knows otherwise. Starks are some pretty high class people but these people do not look like high class people.

“Hey! You better not cause trouble or I’ll be calling the cops!” Theon shouts through the window. None of the men even so much flinch.

By the time Theon gets out of the booth, the men are already running away with some of the contents of Robb’s briefcase in hand. Of course the largest of the cronies lingers behind. The man takes a wild swing, colliding his fist with Robb’s jaw, enough to send the man tumbling off balance onto the tracks.

“Shit,” Theon curses under his breath. He knows he isn’t quite as close enough to really be of much help so he wildly sprays the pepper spray he had pulled out from the desk drawer in the booth into the air. The man only laughs and takes off before he can be left behind. “And don’t let me see you back here again!” He yells, punctuating it with another burst of pepper spray into the air.

Holding a few seconds of calm, Theon curses again. Nobody else is currently at the train station to help rescue the handsome rich man from the tracks so he quickly thanks for all those times Asha forced him to wrestle in the living room and jumps down onto the tracks himself. Urgently, he pats Robb’s face on both cheeks gently. Nothing. Theon tries shaking the man’s shoulders. A little groan.

“Excuse me, sir? Sir. Robb. Mr. Robb Stark, please wake up.” Looking up, Theon checks his watch and hopes that the train will choose today to be late. “Oh god this is not good. This is terribly bad.” Theon checks for a pulse, finding it steadily beating. Leaning down, he checks to see if Robb is breathing evenly as well. “You smell good. What kind of cologne do you use? I’m sorry. Not the time. Please wake up.”

If there was any particular moment in which Theon really felt like pulling out his hair, today is that day. He tries to hoist the man on his shoulder in a fireman’s carry but ends up falling to his knees. “You look much lighter than you feel,” Theon tells the dead weight leaning against him. “New plan.” Wrapping the man’s arm around his shoulders, Theon manages to make it to his knees but wobbles as he attempts to stand up at full height. Distantly, the train tracks begin to screech. “Not the time for this. C’mon Theon, remember lift with your back. Or was it your knees? I haven’t been to the gym in a while now.”

On Christmas Eve, the train station company decorates all the trains with wreaths and holly. Usually Theon would find himself admiring the decorations but today he’s trying to remove an unconscious man from the train tracks.

“Ugh,”

Spinning around, Theon only gets to see a glimpse of the Robb’s pretty eyes before they fall back close again. Theon whimpers.

“Stop, drop, and roll.” Theon chants to himself, looking at the train once more before dropping to the ground, grabbing the lapels of the man’s nice jacket. He closes his eyes and rolls.

 

…

Nothing good comes out of trips to the hospital on Christmas Eve. If he’s lucky, by the end of the day he won’t be fired. Once he got Robb out of the pit he had no choice but to leave the station to come with the police for questioning on what happened. For two and a half hours Theon’s booth has been empty. Rodrik is going to kill him if the impending heart attack doesn’t.

Still dusting dirt off his uniform, Theon thanks whatever god happens to be looking after him that the cops are finally done with him. He gave all the information he could. Apparently mugging people at train stations is a new thing. Theon was just always hopeful that it would never be his train station.

“Excuse me,” he says to the nurse at the front desk, “there was a man taken in not long ago. His name is Robb Stark.”

The woman glances at him, types the name given into the computer and purses her lips. “Are you family?”

Theon blanches. “No, I’m not but I really need to see him. I have to get him this,” he says, holding up the man’s briefcase as further proof. “Please. I’ll be in and out.”

“Family only.” The nurse shrugs. At the very least she looks pitying of his situation. Theon hasn’t gotten the chance to look in the mirror but he can only imagine how much like shit he looks like currently. He literally faced life or death on what was supposed to be the most boring shift of his life.

Pushing off from the counter, Theon looks at the briefcase in his hand. The material is nice, expensive looking leather. It smells similar to Robb’s clean cologne. “I was going to marry that man.”

Any nurse he asks to let him in after that all give him the same answer. He starts to leave feeling more beaten up than when he had walked in. The elevator as he walks in plays a calm tune that becomes overshadowed by the loud blaring of Fuckin’ Problems. Theon’s face flushes scarlet when an elderly lady looks at him, a mixture of offended and surprised. Urgently, he unlocks the battered case, the ringing gradually accompanied by a steady buzzing. Tucked away in a padded pocket Theon finds a shiny gold iPhone 6 Plus (not a surprise knowing he’s a Stark).

“Sorry,” he apologizes to the woman as he answers, not even checking able to check the caller ID from being so flustered. “Hello?”

“Hey, Stark. How’re the boys feeling? I heard from Harwin that you were going to see Luwin this week.” The man on the other line says, not noticing that Theon isn’t the real owner of the phone.

“What boys?” Theon says instead of coming out and telling the caller the important news. He can’t see Robb with kids. Robb always looked so young that he can’t imagine Robb with a raising a Mini Stark.

The voice on the other line falters. “The boys … You know, the Stark family jewels. My brother one fell on a log and his doctor told him he wouldn’t be able to you know, do the fondue for a while.”

“Uh,” Theon chokes as the elevator comes to a stop on the first floor, doors opening. “Thanks for letting me know. I’ll pass the message on.” Awkwardly, the woman passes him, patting him kindly on the arm. He must really look like a mess.

“Pass it on? Who is this? Where’s Robb?” the caller interrogates.

“Yes? My name is Theon, I, uh, have Robb’s phone because he kind of got into an accident earlier today. He’s at the hospital now. I promise I’ll let him know about the, you know, jewels when I can.”

When Theon hangs up, he does so with many regrets. Many. He’ll need more than just a raise and a few more days off to make up for what he’s been through in one day.

…

Nan isn’t one for letting people get away with things but the man looks pathetic holding his boyfriend - no, fiance’s - briefcase in hand. She tells her son, Hodor, all the time not to jump into things but she can’t not fall for such a situation like this young man. He’s so clearly in love with the other man who was carted in on a gurney not too long ago that he’s even pained to be holding his briefcase.

Disdainfully, she looks again to make sure she’s making the right decision. The businessman was so very clean cut while his fiance looks like he just came off work from the station. Why would a rich man’s fiance need to work there? Nan shakes her head at herself for beginning to get too nosy. The fact that this sad looking man can’t get to his future husband is a problem.

She’s been working at this hospital for over twenty years. She can pull some strings.

…

Even in his sleep, the man looks beautiful.

From the day before Theon still has Robb’s briefcase. It sat on his kitchen counter and haunted him all night. Maybe if he had been a bit faster or rasher like Asha he could’ve been prepared for what had happened. But neither applied to him yesterday so he found himself left with no choice this morning other than to come to the hospital to drop off the briefcase.

“He’s right this way,” a nurse points, leading Theon down the hallway. Her name tag reads Nan but Theon thinks it must be a nickname of some sort. “He’s in a coma at the moment but the doctor believes he’ll snap out of it. He’s just in need of sleep.”

Theon nods mechanically. For whatever reason he feels nervous seeing Robb. People like himself and Robb don’t see each other outside their normal arrangement. “That’s good. I’m glad to hear it.”

Alone, Theon relaxes slightly. The nurse was looking up at him as if she knew something that he didn’t. It was a bit unsettling but at least he now can get in to drop off to briefcase and make it to work. He doesn’t want to drag in more attention than necessary. Yesterday he caused a bit of a spectacle, running in after a man on a gurney, policeman questioning him on either side.

If only Theon had such a luxury.

“What if he never wakes up?” a man, tall with dark brown hair asks the doctor. The poor doctor looks like he’s had a million questions aimed at him with no time to answer any of them. “I’ve read that many people can stay in comas for years and never wake up. Is that what’s going to happen to my son? My _oldest_ son?”

Theon feels for this doctor. There are seven people all crammed around Robb’s bed, looks of concern on all their faces. Some more intense than others. Theon grew up with three older siblings but they were never quite this involved with his life that they would be this devastated if he ended up in the hospital. If anything, Asha would come visit him to mock the crap out of him until she could take him home to baby the energy back into him. Asha possibly annoyed him more than anyone else but she at least cared like these people cared.

Realizing he has been standing in the doorway staring at the situation for more than welcome, he makes to back out with his hypothetical tail between his legs until a family member looks at him square in the eye. “Who’re you?” the man asks. He doesn’t resemble Robb at all but he has a similar look near the eyes that makes him resemble the woman who places a calm hand on his shoulder. “This is family only admittance. Coworkers will be allowed to visit later this week.”

“Calm down Edmure. Don’t give the poor boy a heart attack. He’ll end up in a room next door with the way you’re looking at him.” The woman chastises. “What’s your name, dear?”

The nurse chooses this moment to return, blood pressure machine in her grasp. “Don’t worry Mr. Tully, this man here is your nephew’s fiance. He’s practically family.”

“Excuse me,” the woman gives Robb sleeping peacefully on the bed a stern looks that reads mom. Theon gulps. “He must have forgotten to tell us that he was planning on getting married.”

“Married,” Theon dumbly echoes, holding the handle to the briefcase a little tighter than before. “Married? What?”

A girl about seventeen just rolls her eyes. She has the hair and eyes that match the man who is sitting in the chair near the corner of the room looking as if he’d rather be a million places elsewhere than here. “At least he didn’t _actually_ get married, Mom. Remember when Bran said he was going to run off and elope with Jojen? He got halfway to the chapel before Uncle Benjen caught him.”

“You’re never going to let him live that down.” The boy next to her laughs as the uncle in question tries not to find it too amusing. He looks closer to the beginning of his teens.

“Of course not. It makes things even easier when he’s not here.” The girl grins. It almost reminds Theon of the way Asha would tease him relentlessly.

“We’ll be talking about teasing Bran about that later, young lady.” Her mother warns, wagging a finger in her daughter’s direction. “I suppose we’re just all a little overwhelmed at the moment. It’s been awhile since we’ve been able to see Robb. He works farther and farther away in the city every year. How long have you known my son?”

Suddenly, the man in the corner rises to his feet, shaking his head. “Don’t grill the poor boy in the hospital. Christmas has been hard enough this year. We don’t need Robb coming home upset that you ran off his fiance. What ever happened to that one girl? Jeyne, was it?”

Theon gulps. Jeyne had been talking about a mystery man for a while now. “Westerling?”

“No,” the girl shakes her head. “Poole. Sansa thought it’d be a good idea to get them together. Seriously. I mean, sets up their best friend with their older brother and doesn’t expect things to blow up in their face? Huh, Sansa? Where’s Jeyne now?”

Judging by the way an older girl looking around twenty rises to her feet, pointing a neatly manicured nail against her sister’s chest, that this is Sansa. “I don’t want to hear it. I thought it was a good idea at the time.”

“Let the boy answer the question.” Edmure looks unaffected by the family’s antics. In fact, he looks like this is routine chaos.

“Um,” Theon switches the briefcase to the other hand, glancing at Nan from the corner of his eye, “my name is Theon Greyjoy. I met Robb about four months again at the train station.”

“That’s adorable,” the older girl mutters as both her younger siblings mutter, “Gross,” beneath their breaths.

“Four months is very quick to get engaged.” Edmure says disapprovingly.

Nan suddenly pauses, using the pencil she had been using to write down Robb’s vitals down to poke Edmure roughly on the arm. “Not only did they meet at the train station but it was that very train station that this young man saved your son yesterday.”

If the voices were loud before, they became even louder now. All of them began to talk at once. It became difficult to tell if they were trying to talk to him or the nurse for confirmation. At the very least Edmure seemed to dislike him a little less now. Like the news gave him a reason to warm up to Theon. The younger girl even seemed to consider swooning like her older sister.

“It seems we owe you, young man.” The father weaves through the obstacles in the room to approach Theon, a hand offered in greeting. “My name is Eddard Stark. It’s a pleasure to meet my future son-in-law. Don’t let the big family intimidate you now. This is really only the beginning.” As they shake hands, he says, “Welcome to the family. This is my wife, Catelyn and her brother Edmure. My kids,” Eddard begins to point, “Sansa, Arya, and Rickon. Bran is at physical therapy at the moment. And my brother, Benjen.”

Benjen suddenly comes to his feet as well. “Now that you mention it,” he begins, rubbing his beard. “I heard about a young man who rescued someone at a train station. I never would have imagined that person would have been Robb. He’s always had a knack for finding weird ways to get himself into trouble.”

“Ben works at the police station a county over.” Eddard explains. “He wasn’t very interested in the electronic business.”

“Can’t say I ever will be either.” Benjen replies, leading the men to branch off into their own side conversation.

“Ned,” Catelyn interrupts, “we have to pick Bran up. And someone,” she looks at Arya, “has some very expensive fencing lessons to get to.” By the time she has the children rounded up and all the adults have said their goodbyes Theon has only managed to set the briefcase with the rest of Robb’s stuff. “We’ll see you later, Theon.”

He smiles warmly. Theon doesn’t mention how he plans on hunting down the nurse Nan. He finds her fifteen minutes later coming out of an employee only room.

“Why did you tell them that I’m his fiance?” Theon feels the possibility of a heart attack coming back. (At least he’s in the hospital already.)

The woman looks offended. “You said you were!”

“I wasn’t serious. I was just talking to myself. Someone like him doesn’t date people like me! We haven’t even spoken to each other before.” Theon explains, uneasy.

“Then why did you say you were going to marry him?” Nan questions.

“I don’t know. I was talking to myself.” Theon says defensively.

Nan just tsks. “Next time when you’re talking to yourself, say you’re single and end the conversation! When that nice family comes back, I’m going to tell them the truth. The Starks are very good supporters of this hospital.”

“No!” Theon waves his hands. “No, you can’t. His little sister takes fencing lessons. She’ll turn me into mince meat and her police officer uncle will help her hide the body. I’m too young to die. I have a cat to take care of and a car to pay off!”

“You think hiding it from them is a better idea?” Nan raises a brow. She’s smaller than Theon but she intimidates him all the same. “Why would you say you were going to marry him if you haven’t even spoken before?”

Theon sighs. “I - I just love him. We’ve never spoken more than three words to each other before and I’m in love with him. That’s pathetic, isn’t it?”

“I’ll tell you what,” the nurse says, “I won’t tell them. I’ll let you do it on your terms. I’d suggest that you do it very soon though.”

…

Theon comes home to Ramsay sitting on his doorstep. “So, Theon, I was thinking,” he says, getting to his feet, “you plus me at the Ice Capades this weekend. Sound good?”

One can only take so many years of Ramsay hanging around that Theon doesn’t even bother to hide his obvious sigh. “I have a better idea. You minus me at Ice Capades. Think of all the room you’ll have to yourself if you leave the seat next to you open.” Theon reluctantly smiles. Out of all the things Ramsay has invited him to go see, Ice Capades is by far one of the lowest.

Ramsay looks at Theon as if he’s been burned. He only rolls his eyes and pushes through to get to the door. It takes a bit of muscling through to close the door on the latter. Theon even hesitates for a moment to make sure that Ramsay is gone for good before he lets himself relax. There’s no spark, no feeling except for maybe repulsion, whenever Ramsay asks him out. Theon isn’t in love with Ramsay like he is Robb Stark.

Kicking his shoes off, he nearly hits the black cat hiding in his coat closet. “How’d you get in there?” he asks as he picks the animal up. “You’ve gained weight, Pyke.” Theon notes, scritching the animal behind the ears. The purring warms Theon’s chest. Even if he doesn’t really have anyone else, he has a cat that will always be there for him so long as a nice can of cat food comes out of it.

Sitting down on the couch feels good. Theon contemplates calling Rodrik to tell him what happened but sleep overtakes him before he can even pick up his phone. Five hours later, he wakes up much before his alarm, a cat lounging on top of his eyes, a furry tail moving back and forth across his nose and lips.

Theon gets dressed, feeds the cat, and curses when he finds a shiny new iPhone sitting on his counter.

…

The hospital is very empty come six thirty in the morning. While usually the elevator would be buzzing with people, it’s just Theon riding up to the seventh floor. All the nurses on staff look as tired as Theon. Not one of them check to see where he’s going. They just let him pass and go into Robb’s room.

Theon is thankful to see the room stark - or more accurately Stark - empty. He can drop off the phone without having to worry about getting any phone calls from coworkers about jewels or being bombarded with loud family members. Sansa seemed welcoming enough of Theon. As for the rest of the family … Theon isn’t too sure. They welcomed him fairly quickly, though skeptical of he and Robb’s relationship. He’ll leave and all answers will be taken care of.

Exhausted, he checks his watch. He has ten minutes that he can spend sitting down before he has to leave. Pyke had him sneezing the whole time he was getting dressed. At first Theon covers his mouth with the crook of his arm until three times later, he reaches for a tissue.

“Sorry,” he apologizes. “I promise it’s not a cold. I’m just a bit sensitive when a cat takes a nap right on top of my face. I swear those things are from the devil.” Carefully, Theon blows his nose, dropping it right into the trash can next to the bed. He reaches for the hand sanitizer on the wall immediately after. “I bet you’re wishing I wasn’t visiting you so early in the morning, sneezing all over you. You don’t deserve that.” Theon sighs. “I saw on TV once that people in comas can hear what’s going on around them sometimes so I’ll explain what’s going on and hope you understand. My name is Theon Greyjoy. I’m your fiance apparently. I was talking to myself and next thing I knew, your family thought we were engaged. It’s my fault. My sister always said I had a big mouth.

“Your family though … almost makes me miss mine. It’s been awhile since I’ve been around so many people. They’re all great though. I’m just sorry that this happened. One day you’re going to wake up and your family is going to be asking about a wedding and it’s all my fault. I never meant for any of this to happen. It all happened so fast. One moment I’m working at the station and the next I’m jumping onto train tracks to save a complete stranger. Now I’m here stuck in a hole I keep digging myself deeper into. If you were awake, we wouldn’t be in this mess. Not that I’m not blaming the victim, but look at you. You’re a Stark and I’m the loser who gets stuck working the Christmas shift.”

Theon sighs, fiddling with the drawstring on his jacket. “I never thought this would happen. My sister used to tease the hell out of me for having everything planned out. She called me a girl, not that I cared. When I was younger I wanted that stupid picket fence life so bad. Instead, all I have is a cat. Before I thought there was such a thing as love at first sight. You probably never did though, you look too sensible for that. I wish I would’ve been like that. It’s just - it’s just, have you ever been so lonely that you let a bunch of people believe some stupid lie just so you had someone to talk to? That the only person you can talk to is a man in a coma?”

Politely, a RN knocks on the door before entering. He’s wearing matching cartoon scrubs. They exchange cordial smiles before Theon silently excuses himself.

Halfway to the elevator caught up in his own angst, a body crashes into his chest. “Sorry about that.” The culprit is Rickon Stark rolling around a boy in a wheel chair. Theon concludes that this must be the Bran who was absent for physical therapy the other day. “I can’t believe you beat us here. Starks are early risers. We’re big fans of the winter.” He laughs as he spins his older brother around so the wheelchair is facing Theon so they all can talk. “Bran, this is Theon. Theon, this is Bran. Stick around long enough and you’ll meet Jojen.”

Theon smiles weakly as Bran protests, “We’re just friends!”

“Friends don’t suck face on the living room couch.” Theon jumps. He didn’t see Arya sneaking up behind him. Neither did her siblings because they both ask for where she had been lingering around. “I ran ahead and went to the bathroom. Try to keep up.”

Gradually the other Starks plus Edmure Tully appear, some more awake than others. Eddard seems like the kind of man who needs a few cups of joe before he can fully be aware of his surroundings. Benjen is the one absent this time.

“Been here long?” Catelyn asks him. She seems to have understood that she should put off the interrogation off until after her son gets out of the hospital. Or at least better.

“Not really,” Theon lies. He really lost track of the time. All he knows is that he’s going to be late for work at this point. The Starks say long goodbyes and now that he’s added another one - a younger one at that - it’ll take time to slip away. (At least Nan isn’t around to judge him for not telling the truth yet.)

“That’s not good.” Edmure says. Theon almost thinks it’s directed toward him until he sees the man looking at the monitor in the hall. On the screen a newscaster reports the status of a snowstorm lingering over head.

Arya crosses her arms over her chest firmly, almost puffing out her chest. “That’s not fair. That’s going to delay Jon coming home completely! He’s bad enough being on time with clear weather. At this point, he won’t even be here for New Year’s.”

Catelyn is oddly silent about it. “He’ll be here.” Eddard promises. “You know he will be. When has Jon ever let us down?”

“You only like when Jon comes back for Christmas because he always gives you something pointy as a present. That’s not a gift. Who gives their baby sister something pointy for Christmas?” Sansa mimics the way her younger sister is standing.

“Who sets up their best friend with their older sister?” Arya shoots back.

“Enough,” Catelyn cuts in.

“Just beware, Jon is a downer. I mean, I’m surprised he hasn’t moved to Greenland. Winter is perfect for him.” Sansa quickly adds before her mother can say much else. She ends by holding her hands up in defense. Theon isn’t totally sure what to make of that. Just when Theon thought he met all of the siblings, it turns out that there’s another one on the way.

Another RN makes way for Robb’s room, a bag to be hooked up to the IV in her hand. Theon and the others all part like the Red Sea to make way. He’s way behind schedule now. There’s no doubt that Rodrik won’t be happy when he finds out. Theon manages to send a quick text to Jeyne that he’ll be late with hopes that she’ll cover for him.

“I know you guys just got here but I have to go.” Theon says, pointing to the door. He feels awkward having to go so quickly even if he was the first one at the hospital. “Work and all, you know.”

Eddard nods in understanding. “Go, then. We don’t want to be the reason for you to miss work.”

“Already missed Christmas,” Arya says, pretending to be discreet about what she’s hinting at.

“Right, we did.” Eddard reaches for his pocket to pull out his wallet. It’s an even nicer quality leather than Robb’s brief case. “Tonight we’re going to have our Christmas dinner. You’re invited now that you’ll be a future Stark. Benjen will be there and you’ll get to meet Grandpa Tully and their Uncle Brynden. Maybe Jon will even show up. Take my business card and when you get the chance, call my office number. I’ll have my secretary give you the house address.”

With the business card in his hand, it feels like less of an invitation and more of an order for Theon to come to their house. Out of all the excuses he’s used in the past, none of them seem like they’ll work on a family like the Starks. “Okay,” he says, turning it in his hand. “I’ll give it a call later. I’ve got to go.”

Theon leaves the hospital room with a litany of, “Bye Theon,” behind him.

The Starks scare him.

…

Of all the time he’s imagined a rich family’s house, he’s never quite imagined it so nice as the real thing. To call the Stark residence a house is an understatement. The closer Theon gets to the house, the more he realizes it’s a mansion. His whole apartment could probably fit half of one wing of the Stark household. It makes the poinsettia Theon brought as a gift seem like nothing. The garden is so beautiful out front that, if not for the snow, it would seem like summer. All the flowers are alive.

“I guess it’s too late to go back now.” Theon bites his lip and closes his eyes. His jacket does nothing to block out the cold.

“Why would you?”

Theon jumps as he turns around. “You scare people often?” Arya Stark is a dangerous person.

“Not really,” she shrugs. In her hand are three leashes all leading to large … wolves? “I take fencing lessons. I’ve been told by my teacher that I’m very light on my feet. Plus, the snow helps mask the sounds. Nice plant.”

“Thanks,” Theon says, focusing on the way his breath puffs in front of his face instead of looking the girl directly in the eye.

“You know, my family is huge.” Arya states. Theon hums in approval. He isn’t sure where she’s going with this. “I’d do anything for them. One day I’m going to be working for Interpol and if you didn’t know, my Uncle Benjen was in the CIA before he retired to work for the state police. I’d do anything to keep them safe and I’d make sure that Jon convinced Uncle Benjen to help cover it up. You know what I mean?”

The dogs sniffing at his shoes have big teeth, Theon realizes. “Yeah, I do. My sister felt the same. Protect what’s yours.” He reaches out to pet one of them on the head until it tries to nip at his fingertips. “I’d do the same. This family - your family - is pretty amazing.”

Seeming satisfied, Arya jerks the leashes. “I’d watch Shaggydog’s teeth. He’s a biter. Nymeria doesn’t bite because she’s mine. Shaggy is Rickon's and somehow I always get stuck walking Bran’s too. He’s got a not-boyfriend so I don’t see why I get stuck with doing it.” She heaves a heavy sigh to watch her breath mix in the cold air. “I’m freezing my ass off now. Let’s go inside.”

Theon couldn’t jump at the plan quicker. “Agreed.”

“Theon is here!” Arya shouts at the top of her lungs. She kicks off her wet boots as she takes the leashes off the dogs. As if on cue, two more come bounding down the stairs. “That’s Lady, Sansa’s dog, and Grey Wind is Robb’s. Since Jon is driving up he should have Ghost. We’ll have a full house.”

“As if your house isn’t full enough already.” Theon scoffs.

“Well, it is technically a mansion.” Arya teases, plucking the plant from his grasp, continuing to shout his arrival throughout the hall. He kicks off his own shoes and follows like a duck that’s just imprinted on its mother. This is the kind of place he could find himself getting lost in. “Mom, where are you?”

Rolling into the hall, Bran pretends to be covering his ears. “Not so loud, Horseface. She’s in the kitchen.”

“Shut up,” Arya counters. She plops the potted plant into Bran’s lap without hesitation. “Jojen leave before dinner?”

“Nope.” Appearing in the doorway, a tall boy laughs while straightening out his coat. “He will be though. Meera won’t be happy eating dinner with the adults alone again.”

Arya clucks her teeth. “Meera won’t be happy to hear you speaking in the third person about yourself either. Not to mention the nice hickey you’ve got there. I hope Sansa taught you two how to cover them up. Turtlenecks don’t fool anyone with working eyes.”

Jojen purses his lips. He has both his hands gripping the handles of Bran’s wheelchair protectively. “I don’t remember. Why don’t you give Gendry a call to make sure?”

Theon makes a noise similar to choking. He’s never had to memorize so many names and relationships before. He’s had plenty of warnings that the Starks were a big family but he never thought he’d have to keep track of friends too. Perhaps if he really were dating Robb he would have heard of some of these names mentioned in passing before but they weren’t. Theon is nothing but a fish out of water in unfamiliar territory.

“Dinner in ten minutes!”

From his chair Bran huffs out a sigh. “You should go if you need to go,” he tells Jojen, “or else Sansa will come down and threaten you into staying. I can wheel myself to the dinner table.”

“You sure?” the boy asks. Bran nods.

In his peripheral, Theon sees Arya make a jerking motion to the side. They leave before they can see any kisses from the not-boyfriends being exchanged. A large dog with a silver coat darts between their legs. He isn’t sure which one, though, but judging on how easily the Starks sucked Theon into their activities, he figures he’ll learn very soon.

…

Present time consists of a lavish amount of gifts. Not everything has a designer label attached but Theon can almost see the zeros on the price tags adding up now. Regardless, he smiles the whole time. His lips threatening to crack when he sees how happy the Starks are at even the simplest of presents. In the meantime, Grandpa Tully passes all of the cookies Catelyn has placed on her father’s plate onto Theon’s as discretely as possible.

“We have something for you, too, Theon.” Sansa says. She wastes no time rushing her Great Uncle Brynden out of the way to get past him to the large Christmas tree. It reminds Theon of the one he sent down the side of his building only bigger, much bigger.

“I didn’t get you anything though,” he protests. Technically, he got them a plant but that probably doesn’t count.

“Nonsense,” Catelyn shakes her head, “you don’t have to get us anything to be part of the family. Robb would just be happy that you’re here with us.”

Sansa plops down onto the carpet next to Theon, snickering when she sees his plate with a familiar pile of chocolate chip cookies. “It really isn’t that big of a deal. Just take the present. It’ll make you officially a part of the Stark family. This is your last chance to escape so choose wisely.”

Theon laughs, thinking about his conversation with Arya. He does love this family so he chooses the present. Even if it’s to pretend for a little while longer. “I’m not going anywhere.”

The wrapper is tightly done, a bow topping the presentation off. Sansa gestures at herself when he begins to peel the wrapped. It’s almost obvious that she would be the only one of the Stark children to spend that much time making sure a present would look so pristine. Theon nearly feels bad for tearing it apart until he opens the box inside. The gift is a bracelet with a single wolf charm on it. He immediately knows what that means. The Stark family crest is a wolf.

He was just given the family crest.

“We’re really glad that Robb found someone.” Arya says, watching Theon’s facial expression carefully.

Benjen bends down in the chair beside him, gathering the trash, giving Theon an eyeful of a shiny NYPD badge. He gulps. “We only want what’s best for Robb.”

“Of course,” Theon agrees. He smiles as he slips the bracelet on and for a few minutes after as he helps clean up the mess of wrappers and tape in the living room. For once, he feels warm, inside and out.

…

“All settled?” Arya asks. It’s almost eleven at night but Theon is very alive and awake at the moment. “If you get scared during the night, I can send Nym to your room. I’m only two doors down the hall to the left.”

Theon doesn’t feel totally settled wearing Robb’s clothes to bed (“They’re engaged of course it’s fine,” Arya had been the one to insist when the subject of what Theon could go to sleep in came up). The shirt is long for him, the shorts a bit awkward on his hips. Robb has an inch or two of height that Theon doesn’t. Usually if he ever wears another man’s clothes, it isn’t in a situation like this.

“Yeah,” he responds after a prolonged silence. “I should probably get to sleep. I have work in the morning.”

Arya nods slowly. She doesn’t move from her spot in the doorway. “I just want to let you know that it’s okay to be honest with me. I know that you aren’t really engaged. I heard you at the hospital the other day and it’s fine. It’s about time that Robb found someone decent to date.”

“You know and you haven’t told anyone?” Theon asks, suspicious. His heart is beating a pace too fast to be normal. Nobody in the Stark family ever made it sound like Arya was anything other than the straightforward type anyway.

“Yeah, well, just know that I have swords in my room that I’m certified to use and Uncle Benjen is okay with being an accomplice if it means keeping our family safe.” Arya says nonchalantly as if she hasn’t just threatened his life. Her smile says ‘trust me’ but her eyes say ‘cross me and I can kill you’. Satisfied, Arya pushes off the doorframe. “I just want my family to be happy. Robb may be in a coma but you being here has brought us closer together than we have been for a while. This family owes you. Things will work out, I’m sure of it.”

…

Jon loves the snow but he doesn’t appreciate it that much when it gets in his hair and melts on his coat. He shivers his whole hospital visit, guilty that he left Ghost in the car. The valet parking at the very least will keep the car warm for a few more extended minutes. He tipped the guy a twenty in hopes that he’d keep an eye on Ghost, slipping in the Stark name as casually as possible.

“Sorry man, but this has to be a quick trip.” Jon sinks into the chair, exhausted. “I can’t believe this happened to you. Things like this happen to me but not you. You’re the golden child, Robb.”

Quickly, he loses track of time. What was meant to be a quick trip turned into something a bit longer. The valet outside the hospital kept his car running, not even parked, Ghost fogging up the window with his breath. Jon reaches for his wallet to tip an additional ten. It’s the only cash he has left but it’s something. He doesn’t even care that the valet gives him a dirty look for having to do something so unorthodox.

At the very least, the ride home is warm. His fingers freeze at the touch of the steering wheel but his thigh from where Ghost lounges across the console keeps him warm. The fur coat does nothing to keep him warm now that it’s damp with snow. Jon thanks the gods that the ride home this late at night is quick. He speeds a little bit when he’s sure no cops are watching just so he can make sure he makes it to his bed before four in the morning.

Ghost darts inside the mansion as soon as he unlocks the door. The heat rushes at him, making Jon sigh in relief. He would have run inside if not for the luggage. Knowing that Catelyn won’t like if he leaves the suitcase near the front door, he struggles to keep a carry on and laptop case on his shoulder as he lugs the large case upstairs. Because of Bran, he can roll it up the custom ramp, though at this time, that isn’t a great idea either. The noise won’t be appreciated.

“Jon!”

He manages to set his laptop and carry on onto the noisy wooden floor just as Arya launches herself into his arms. Jon laughs, stumbling a foot back, knocking his heel against his suitcase.

“Shit, Arya.” He curses, keeping one arm steady around Arya’s waist as he tries to push away his suitcase. After a week in Chicago in business, this is the best thing to come home to even while tuckered out.

Abruptly Arya pushes away from him. “Quiet,” she hisses, “you’ll wake up Theon. He told me he has work tomorrow.”

Jon pauses. He’s heard of Jojen and Gendry (very reluctantly on Eddard’s part) sleeping over before but the name Theon rings no bells. “Is this another half Stark or are we just trying to fill up the empty bedrooms here?”

“Nope.” Arya shakes her head, planting herself right onto Jon’s luggage. “Theon is Robb’s fiance.”

“That’s impossible,” Jon laughs. He crosses his arms over his chest and tries to prepare his ‘no nonsense older brother look’. “I know Robb. He wouldn’t propose to someone without telling me. What happened to that one girl? Jane?”

“It was Jeyne, first of all. And second of all, Theon is great. Mom likes him, Dad doesn’t think he’s a threat to Robb’s virtue. Most importantly I like him. He’s not that bad. I mean, he’s passed grandpa’s cookie test. Didn’t even say a word. I think he even ate a few of them.” Arya smirks, “Dad gave him a bracelet with our crest. He’s a Stark now.”

Stubbornly, Jon still can’t see the possibility. The crest, though. Even he didn’t get a copy of the crest until he was thirteen. Catelyn didn’t look very happy about it either. Eddard was very determined to make it Jon’s big gift and Benjen made it happen before Catelyn could even so much protest. How some smuck could come into their family and immediately get the Stark crest is astounding. Even the grandpa test. Hoster does it to everyone new to the family to gauge their reactions.

He’s still staring at the closed guest bedroom door as Arya pecks him lightly on the cheek to bid him goodnight. Whoever Theon is must be a miracle worker. No one gets the Starks together when there’s potential business on the line. It’s Christmas. Too much business is to be had and all of it went into taking off and playing family games.

Must be some miracle worker.

…

Theon’s phone goes off at seven thirty. His shift isn’t until three hours from now but he has so much to do. At his apartment there’s a cat to feed, a shower to be had, and a lonely ride to his place and back out to the station. As he strips off Robb’s clothes, he feels weird leaving so early. Like he should be leaving some kind of thank you note on the pillow. Instead, he just folds the clothes as neatly as possible and makes the bed.

In the hall he curses that the floors creak. His apartment does the same, however, his apartment doesn’t have people that he could potentially wake up. Theon manages to round the corner without much noise until he begins to make his way down the ramp to the first floor. A man sitting on the banister with a white dog at his feet prevents him from going much farther.

The man looks nothing like most of the Starks. In the dim light he can’t really tell but he has eyes similar to Arya’s. His hair is curly, similar to Robb’s, but an even bigger mess by the looks of it. One thing for sure, he is attractive. Pouty lips, messy hair that Theon enjoys, and arms that look nice even slightly bundled up. Whoever he is meets Theon’s standards on first look. (Maybe not the height exactly, but sitting down Theon can’t get a proper measure.)

“Oh,” Theon pretends he didn’t almost just jump from being startled. “Good morning.” The man sitting on the banister is not someone he recognizes. He wasn’t on the long list of faces pointed out from family photobook pictures.

“You must be Theon,” the man says. He lets his eyes roam up and down Theon’s body as he takes a sip of coffee. “I’m Jon.”

At Jon’s feet the beast stirs. Its eyes seem to look straight through Theon’s soul. He almost wishes that he had Arya to back him up. She may have threatened to kill him the night before but at the very least she likes him. If anyone is going to take him out of this world, it’ll be Arya with her uncle as an accomplice.

“Well, I, uh, have to get to work.” He tells Jon awkwardly, trying to step around the large dog. It makes no attempt to move even when his feet get close. “I have a long drive back to my place before I can even get to work.”

Jon purses his lips. His expression isn’t one that he knows how to read well. “Should I call a cab for you?”

“No, no, I did that already, actually. It should be waiting for me now.” Theon jerks his thumb over his shoulder. The longer Robb’s brother stares at him, the more he feels like this is first meeting isn’t going very well. “I, uh - I guess I might see you at the hospital later.”

Sliding off the bannister, Jon snaps his fingers, causing the dog to jerk to its feet. “Right. I’m guessing you’ll be spending a lot of time at the hospital since your fiance is there.” Theon stays silent. “Well, it was nice meeting you. C’mon, Ghost, let’s get some sleep before we have to wake up again.”

…

Theon goes to Rodrik for advice on break. He’s desperate for some kind of guidance. Jeyne filled Rodrik in about what had happened with Robb Stark (leaving out how he left his post). Come break time Jeyne wriggled her way beside Theon, ears open for more gossip. Out of all the coworkers he has, he has learned to love Jeyne the most so he doesn’t even flinch seeing her slide in the diner booth next to him.

“I have a problem.” Theon starts off with. He slept so well at the Starks’ but somehow he’s still tired. “I have a fiance.”

Rodrik drops his fork. “Tell me you didn’t do a mail order bride or one of those things. Those mean nothing but trouble. Whatever you did, just undo it.”

“Not exactly. The accident the other day … well, I’m apparently engaged to that man. Actually, the family thinks I am and I’m not sure how to undo it. I’m not even sure if I want to undo it. I finally have a family again. One that actually doesn’t mind me being there.” Theon on the other hand pokes fork holes into his breakfast sausage until the meat splits.

Jeyne rubs Theon’s arm consolingly. “Oh, Theon. Are you sure it’s not too late?”

“He just has so many family members I’ll be letting down if I tell them now. His younger sister said she was going to keep the secret and then she threatened to kill me and have her uncle hide the body.” Theon shares, rubbing his face. He knows Rodrik is disapproving from the very first word by the deep sigh and he doesn’t want to see it.

“So you’re just going to keep lying to these nice people.” Rodrik says. His tone is disappointing.

“Just for a little while longer at the very least.” Theon says, looking at Jeyne for reassurance. She gives him nothing but a blank stare. He can’t believe what he’s saying either, really. When he saw himself with a family, it was all very organic. It isn’t what this thing with Robb Stark is. Not rushed and artificial. He doesn’t understand why Arya is allowing him to get away with it.

“You should cut it out soon, before you get in too deep,” his boss smacks his lips, his appetite evidently back.

Theon sits through a fifteen minute conversation between Jeyne and Rodrik on how he’s not exactly the best planner before he realizes he has a visit to the hospital that he has to pay. They allow him to leave without giving him any more strife than he already has. Rodrik certainly got his two cents in. Still, Theon has people he can call a family now. He isn’t going to give it up so easily.

…

Jon calls Benjen as soon as Theon leaves. Theon is too … Theon. Too not Robb’s type. Robb hangs out with guys like Theon but he’s never heard of his brother dating any of them. Girls and boys alike. None of them have been like Theon. Theon, who, according to Catelyn, loved family time and all the nonsense the Starks give to break in the new members of the family albeit nervous as it happened.

“He’s all clean.” Benjen says on the phone. It sounds like, to Jon, that his uncle is typing up a report of some kind the way the keyboard clicks in the background. “Arya already had me check him out. I did the full background check. Theon Greyjoy is clear to go.”

“You like him.” Jon accuses. His uncle has always been the person he goes to for any kind of judge of character.

“I guess you could say that. He brings the family together. I’ve never gotten a phone call from my niece and nephew before to do a background check on someone but if that’s what it takes to get you kids to keep in touch, I guess I’ll take it,” his uncle teases. His tone is so steady that Jon barely picks it up.

Against his thigh, Ghost nips at his shoelaces. Grey Wind watches from afar as if he wants to join in. “I call you all the time.” Jon argues.

“Only for when you have questions about the police force. Just tell your old man that you don’t want to be in the family business. He’ll be disappointed but he’ll get over it. I know your father.” Benjen yawns on the line. “Listen, if you want to interrogate Theon, do it on your own time. The family likes him.”

Jon hangs up the phone undeterred. There’s just something missing from the equation.

He leaves the house under the pretense of getting more gas, shooting off in the opposite direction of the nearest gas station for the address Benjen had given him instead. There has to be something about Theon Greyjoy that hasn’t been found on paper. The drive leads him just to where he thought he might end up. A shady area of town that he only ventured into when he was hanging out with the wildlings from college. Not too many great memories come back.

There’s nobody around when he gets out of his car except one man who looks like he just walked out of the Outsiders. Greased hair, dirty Converse, dirty jeans, and a faded muscle t-shirt.

“Hey,” Jon calls out from his car. “You live here?”

The male wipes the wrench off on a towel that already looks dirty and grins. (Jon could bet a million bucks that he isn’t fixing a damn thing on that beat up car.) “Of course. My father and I own this place.” Cleaning off his hands next, he holds his right one out to shake. “Ramsay Bolton.”

“Great. You know a Theon Greyjoy who lives here?”

“Know him?” Ramsay smiles lecherously. “He’s my boyfriend!”

“Oh really?” he responds. He suddenly doesn’t regret buying Arya that vintage samurai sword at all now. In fact, he may just have to check how sharp it is now with one Theon Greyjoy as his number one target. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

Livid, Jon drives off hoping Theon at least had the decency to tell this guy goodbye before he kills him.

…

Nan shakes her head after taking Robb’s vitals when she looks up to see Theon standing there. Of course, Catelyn thinks it’s because of her son’s blood pressure but really, it’s only Theon whose blood pressure needs some calming down. Not that he’s going to tell her that while her father sits in the lounge chair looking like he might be joining Robb in the hospital for other reasons at any moment.

“Theon is not Robb’s fiance!” Jon announces loudly as he bursts into the room. Nan looks almost as horrified as everyone else does. For a different reason though.

Sansa rolls her eyes. “Face it, Jon, Robb found his fairy tale ending before you did. Just because it didn’t work out with Egret (“It was _Ygritte_.”) - whatever - doesn’t mean you get to be the Grinch and spoil someone else’s big ending.”

“Seriously,” Jon shakes his head, insistent. Arya will back him up as always, so he hopes. “I went to his apartment and he has a boyfriend and his name is Ramsay Bolton.”

All the color that left Theon’s face comes back with a laugh. “Ramsay? You can’t believe a single thing that Ramsay _Snow_ says. His father never pushed the adoption papers through. He’s just possibly the bottom of the barrel on earth. I’d rather pull out my teeth than date Ramsay Snow.”

Benjen clears his throat. “Jon, what did you do? You can’t go to someone’s home like that.”

“Fine, then prove that you’re Robb’s fiance. There isn’t anything that my brother has hidden from me before. Just one thing. Don’t say something stupid either.” Jon eggs on, eyes narrowed. He’s itching for the moment Theon Greyjoy will crack. He’s much too tall, too pretty eyed, too lean for someone like Robb. That’s not Robb’s type. That’s _his_ type.

“Robb’s favorite Disney princess is Cinderella.” Theon hesitates to say, looking smaller than he should be. Smaller than Jon would like him to be if he wasn’t cheating on his brother.

“Who doesn’t like Cinderella? The prince comes and saves the day.” Sansa shakes her head.

Arya claps her hands together. “I got it. Tell us something we can hold over him when he wakes back up. That’ll be the best. He’ll be like, ‘What the hell guys? How’d you know that?’”

“His jewels!” Theon blurts out. Jon knows he’s got him now. “He injured his, uh, you know between the legs at the so … and then there was one.”

The men in the room all look pained as they try to resist imagining it. Sansa and Catelyn are appalled, even more so when they see how much Arya finds satisfaction in the news. (“That’s gross but that’ll do.”) Jon doesn’t even know what to say, if there is something to say. He’s shared a lot of thing with his brother before but things below the waist are kept private. This one he isn’t sure what to do with.

“Please tell me you used protection,” Eddard groans out first. He doesn’t like to talk sex with, or even in front of his children, so much that he looks physically pained.

Theon’s cheeks are suddenly a very pretty shade of pink that Jon shouldn’t be focusing on. “No, it happened in the office. Not the bedroom. We’re always as safe as safe can be.”

“Can … can he still have children with just one?” Edmure asks hesitantly. “Is that even possible to have an injury that bad that one just doesn’t - I don’t even know how to phrase it.”

Bravely, Catelyn rises from her chair. She hooks her purse onto the handle of Bran’s wheelchair and straightens her back. “I’m his mother so I’ll just check. I’m sure childbirth is still quite possible but if he marries Theon, there won’t be a natural biological baby unless they do it through surrogacy. I’m sure things are fine, though.”

For his brother’s sake, Jon sucks in a breath. He suddenly feels like sitting down or perhaps covering his front just to make sure that the same won’t happen to him.

Slowly she moves the sheet to peer in between. By the look on her face, Theon was right. Robb, for once in his life, had hidden something from him. He got engaged and he didn’t even bother to tell him anything about it. Jon may feel more secure that Theon Greyjoy isn’t out to get the Starks but it makes him feel worse about his relationship with his brother which, somehow, is much worse.

…

The first available moment, Theon runs. He managed to pass some kind of test without even knowing it. The moment he tells Jeyne - god forbid Rodrik knows - she’ll tell him to call off the whole thing. His engagement is a farce and the more he stays around the Starks, the more he realizes how much he wants to be what is impossible. He’ll never be a Stark. He’s just a lonely Greyjoy.

“Wait!” he hears behind him. On a normal day, Theon would stop and wait for any attractive man insane enough to chase after him in the freezing cold but today isn’t normal. This whole week hasn’t been normal for a while now. “Wait, Theon!”

Distracted, Theon nearly slips on the ice. Jon catches him, though barely, his breath puffing out in the air between their lips. It feels oddly intimate considering what had just happened in the hospital. He doesn’t linger over how, outside Jon’s lips look even better than they did when they met. Something about the way the cold makes Jon’s cheeks pinken warms him.

“What?” he asks, pushing away once he gets himself steady enough. He shoves his hands into his pockets for good measure. Suddenly, Theon hates the winter.

Jon rubs the back of his neck, nervous. “I want to apologize. For the way I acted. I get overprotective of Robb. It’s been that way since we were kids. He always got the good stuff and I always went ahead to make sure it was all clear for him. Guess I haven’t broken the habit just yet.”

“That’s an understatement,” Theon scoffs. He doesn’t want Jon being nice to him, too. It’ll only drag him deeper into his hole he’s caused. At least if there’s one Stark to hate, it’ll make it a bit easier to leave. “It’s fine. I understand, though. I remember when my sister got her first boyfriend, I went to the guy’s school the next day. I wanted to scope him out to make sure he was good for her but I ended up getting stuck in the principal's office with my father on the other line. I couldn’t go out for a month after that.”

“You got a sister?” Jon asks, smiling. He looks good when he smiles, Theon thinks briefly.

“Had. I had a sister. She passed away on a cruise. She loved the ocean so much that she ended up dying in it. It took two weeks rescue crew to round up all the bodies. The ME said that it was her at least. I knew Asha and she just didn’t look the same.” He confesses, shaking his head. Had he been able to keep his original job busing tables, he would have taken off work to go with her. If only.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Jon backpedals. He hadn’t been expecting that kind of answer.

“It’s fine. It’s been years since she’s died.”

Jon frowns. “Still, I should’ve been more careful when I asked. Not everyone has as big of a family as the Starks. Catelyn likes to brag at all the company parties about all the grandkids she’ll have one day. She’ll enjoy it until they all start to drop them off at grandma’s house.”

“Seriously, it’s fine. I have to go to work. You should go back up there. Don’t let me stop you.” Theon attempts to wave Jon off.

“No, let me drive you. It’s the least I can do.” Jon attempts a smile. It doesn’t look quite as convincing as a real smile but Theon likes it all the same.

Jon Stark, too, is dangerous. Dangerous to Theon’s health.

...

Unlike every other stranger he’s let into his car, Theon doesn't react like Jon expects him to. Sure, he does look at the sports car in amazement but it lacks the envious expression that the significant others the Starks have welcomed in have. Theon makes an offhand comment about how the car must cost more than his whole entire apartment complex, then the excitement is gone. Theon is just an oddity.

“You think Robb is going to wake up?”

Jon spares a glance from the road, his fingers tapping at the steering wheel. The radio lingers in the background. “Of course he will. I know my brother. He isn’t going to just lie down like that for too long. He’ll be awake by New Year’s, I’m sure of it.”

Theon looks guilty when he responds. “I should’ve tried harder to help him.”

This man is a conundrum. Jon managed to figure out Gendry Waters within minutes. Jojen Reed never posed much of a threat, nor has Jon ever had to worry about something happening to Bran. The boy’s physical therapist Osha would feed Jojen to the frogs faster than someone could blink. Little Jeyne never stood a chance at all. Jon didn’t even have to bother checking her out for his brother to date. He already knew more than he wanted from seeing her over at the house.

Theon Greyjoy lives in a low income neighborhood with a lech for a landlord. Within a matter of days, he’s managed to win all of his family over like it’s nothing. He even passed the background check Benjen did. His uncle didn’t give him all the details, something about the legality of just giving out someone’s personal information with no real warrant for it. Jon just assumed he had enough to land this guy as a fraud and perhaps make plans for trying to ask him out later in the future.

Most people who enter the Stark household get very overwhelmed. On the other hand, Theon almost seemed to enjoy it. He seems to hang on every word that they say to him even if Theon isn’t sure he’s doing it. Jon knows how people look when they want to mooch of the Stark fortune. The look of Theon Greyjoy is not that. Suddenly, Jon feels bad for making his own conclusions. Theon had mentioned a dead sister. Maybe Arya offers what Theon misses.

“He’ll bounce back.” Jon says reassuringly.

“I hope you’re right.” Theon agrees, though he’s less convinced than he tries to appear. His facial expression gives it away. “Would you like to come up? I have tea and coffee.”

Even though Jon wouldn’t mind missing an opportunity to encounter Ramsay Bolton - Snow? - again. If coffee is what it takes to prove to Theon that he isn’t a total jerk, he’ll just have to suck it up and do it. He’s intimidated Robb’s boyfriends before. (He leaves the girlfriends to Arya.) This time, with Theon, he almost wants to try a different approach. Jon doesn’t want to scare Theon away entirely.

“Sure,” he accepts.

As it turns out, Theon lives on the second floor. Theon leads the way, key ready in his hand when Ramsay makes his appearance coming from the third floor. He would’ve tried his intimidation tactics but Ramsay has height that Jon does not. Instead, he stays behind Theon, attempting to look intimidating from there. Just because he wants to mess around with his brother’s fiance’s doesn’t mean other people can do it too.

“You look as hot as ever, Theon. Except for maybe those teeth.” Ramsay sneers, catching Jon watching from over the male’s shoulder. “You again.”

Jon raises a brow. He hasn’t expected someone as dimwitted looking to remember him after one brief meeting. “Leave Jon alone, Ramsay.” Theon cuts in, taking Jon by the wrist to tug him up the remainder of the stairs to get to his apartment. The man boldly bumps his shoulder into Ramsay to knock him out of the way.

“That was real sexy Theon!” Jon hears Ramsay call as Theon shoves him into the apartment first, nearly slamming the door shut behind them.

Theon frustratedly tosses his keys into the dish near the door. “Sorry about that. Ramsay tends to be himself too much. I swear he’s such an ass but he’s the landlord’s son and I can’t do much about that.” A fat cat winds itself around Theon’s ankles. Jon grimaces. Not a cat person. “So, tea or coffee? Which one do you prefer?”

“I’m more of a coffee person.” Jon admits, flinching back when the cat swipes a paw at him. It doesn’t look like the cat’s claws are out, still he isn’t taking any chances. “You can just make me whatever you’re having though. I’m easy.”

Both men exchange glances. They both understand the implication of the statement. It wasn’t on purpose. It certainly wasn’t meant like that although Theon blushes all the same. All of Jon’s willpower has to then go into making sure he doesn’t blurt out something stupid like, “You look pretty when you blush.” That’s not what someone says to one’s brother’s fiance. One’s brother who is currently in a coma and unaware that a coffee date between future in-laws is now commencing without him.

“Right,” Theon clears his throat, the blush subsiding. “I’ll make some tea.”

…

Theon has never been that wise which is why after he sees Jon to the door, he immediately calls Jeyne. Without calling Rodrik he knows the man will tell him to pull his head out of his ass and set things straight with the Starks. Problem is, he doesn’t want to lose them. Now that he’s gotten a small taste of what it’s like to have a family again, he doesn’t want to give it up.

Jon is not what he expected. He’s a bit serious but he has a great dry humor that Theon enjoys. When Jon gets comfortable he doesn’t hesitate to allow himself to be more free. He tells Theon about work and how he doesn’t want to be in the family business. He opens up to Theon that he wants to join the police force with his uncle instead. Theon can’t wrap his head around why he would want to leave such a great family as his. Catelyn is the quick answer why.

“I like him,” Theon tells Jeyne.

On the other line, it sounds like she’s making dinner. “That’s good. If you’re going to continue being the fake fiance of your coma guy, you’ll want to get along with his siblings.”

He sighs. If only it was that easy. “No. I’m in trouble. I really like him. I think I might be engaged to the wrong brother.”

“Oh Theon.” He knows that tone. She uses it whenever she knows no amount of advice can save him. “What’re you going to do? You can’t just jump from one brother to the other. This goes way beyond the rules of Guy Code I’m sure.”

“I don’t know a thing about Guy Code.” Theon responds, tapping Pyke on the nose when he gets too close to the sink. The curious cat wants to see what Theon is washing but won’t like the water if he actually touches it.

“That’s the problem. Guy Code is universal and I’m pretty sure that it says something against dating multiple people in the same family. It’s messy Theon. Like, eighteenth century beheading messy.” Jeyne laments.

He wishes he could fix things without breaking all that he’s built up. He can’t, though. Pyke looks at him, mewling until Theon gets the idea and prepares the small can of cat food. If only cats could talk, Theon could get another opinion. Considering all that has happened, Pyke might think Theon is just as pathetic as everyone else does. His cat looks up at him with dark eyes, judging.

In the morning, Pyke pities him enough to sleep on the small cat bed instead of on top of his owner’s face. Theon is able to leave the apartment minus all the sneezing. At the bottom of the stairs is Ramsay who doesn’t even get a word out before Theon is gone. He gets into his car quickly, rubbing his hands like he’s making fire. Each day in New York gets colder. More snow is on the ground every morning. It’s surprising that there’s enough clearance for people to still drive to work.

Rodrik is in his booth when he arrives at work. He looks as tired as everyone else, a large cup of Starbucks coffee on top of the empty money box. The man gives Theon a quick glance over the shoulder and continues counting, whispering the figures beneath his breath. It’s distracting to say the least, though Theon is thankful that the space heater in the booth works better than his car’s system.

“I got someone to do the New Year’s Eve shift. You don’t have to worry about a thing.” Rodrik says as greeting.

Theon laughs. “You said that about Christmas last month and yet I still ended up working it.”

“It won’t happen again. Things came up and stuff had to be shuffled around. I promise you that it won’t happen again.” His boss holds up both his hands. Something comforting comes from knowing the man isn’t crossing his fingers behind his back.

“It better not.” Theon says.

The closed sign becomes open. He accepts his first token ten minutes later from a woman with her child, four suitcases rolling behind them. It looks like a lot - it is a lot - of luggage for two people but who is Theon to judge? He’s just a guy with a fake fiance in a coma.

…

“Knock, knock.”

Jon peers into the hospital room. Robb is right where the family left him, sleeping peacefully on the hospital bed with an IV attached to his wrist. It doesn’t quite look the Robb he remembers, the lively brother he grew up with, yet the chart on the wall tells Jon that this is the man he’s looking for.

“Want to play cards?” Jon asks.

The chair wails as he moves it from where it was last left in the corner for Hoster. The table is rolled up against the wall so Jon moves that, too, although with much more ease than the hard plastic chair. He pulls out the deck from his pocket and begins to shuffle. The last time he played with Robb, he won. (It was because Benjen taught him how to count cards. If anyone asks it was Eddard since a man of the law doesn’t count cards.)

“You know,” he begins, dealing the deck out evenly, “all my life I’ve always been supportive of you. You are the golden child. The whole future of the company depends on you. Whatever it was that we did together, you always managed to look so much better, so much cooler even if I was beating you. It never made me jealous either. I liked being in your shadow because it made things that much easier for me to scoot on by without being noticed. I was fine with just being the Stark’s other son. Not an heir. Just a son. Only now … now you have something that I want.”

Taking the remainder of the deck and placing it between them, he sighs. Inwardly he makes plans on how he’ll make sure he wins. If Robb manages to have better cards, he’ll fold. If he manages to have better cards, he’ll raise.

“You, my friend, have Theon. I’ll admit that he doesn’t look like much on the outside but I get what you see in him. He’s a lot bolder than he looks. I know too many Starks in one room can be pretty intimidating. Theon, though, is great. Give him some time and he’ll be just like one of us.” Jon pauses, checking his cards and then playfully sneaking a peak at Robb’s as well. “He might even be more of a Stark than me.”

They play two quick rounds of poker. Jon wins both times. He shuffles the cards, makes a small house from them, and snaps his fingers.

“How about this, whoever has the larger card gets Theon.” He proposes. Robb doesn’t respond. “Great. I’ll deal.” He gives himself and Robb both a card. When he looks at the both of them, he frowns. “Best two out of three.”

…

Dinner is loud.

On other side of Theon sits Jojen, Gendry on the other. He feels like the whole side of the table is meant for newcomers of the family judging by how Bran, Jon, and Arya all sit across from them. The family sat down like they already had arranged seating and were merely filling in the spaces. Theon remembers dinner at his house and how unorganized it was. What his father wanted wasn’t what his Uncle Euron wanted and that meant it certainly wasn’t what his Uncle Aeron wanted.

“The doctor said Robb looked better today.” Jon announces. He looks at Theon directly when he says it. “You should be happy. You can go back to wedding planning. I’m sure Robb started to drive you crazy the moment right after he proposed.”

Theon is halfway from putting a forkful of food in his mouth before he drops his hand. “That’s great news. It should be any day now.”

Sansa beams, suddenly standing up. “Since Robb is in a coma, I officially make myself the new head wedding planner. I already have a great color scheme in my head. Robb is a winter and you look like an autumn so a wedding with warm colors is will compliment you two well. Maybe a November wedding. How’s that sound?”

“November is a long way from now.” Arya rolls her eyes. “Are you planning a wedding or are you planning the Olympics or something?”  
  


“Weddings need time to blossom. You wouldn’t know since you don’t have a romantic bone in your body.” Sansa crosses her arms over her chest, defiant. “Just give me the word, Theon. I’ll take the whole operation over. All I’ll need is all the references Robb had planned.”

“Right, references.” Theon coughs nervously. He’s positive that Robb has no references since there won’t be a wedding. Unless, of course, Robb never broke up with this Jeyne person. Then he’s looking at twice the amount of trouble when Robb wakes up. “I’ll, uh, have to get ahold of his phone for the references.”

Edmure shakes his head. “You don’t have your fiance’s phone?”

“No … I returned it with his briefcase. It’s in the hospital in the closet.” Theon shakes his head. He thought that bringing Robb’s things back immediately was a good idea. Although at the time he hadn’t expected someone so suspicious as Edmure questioning him.

Back to sitting down, Sansa shakes her head. “That’s no good. We can get it tonight when we go visit Robb in the hospital.”

He inwardly sighs at his food. “Of course. We can do that.”

Gendry, as it turns out, is Arya’s friend. They aren’t official by Sansa’s standards but they’re official enough by Eddard’s standard. Theon isn’t a big fan and neither is Jon judging by the way he ignores most of what the boy has to say. Catelyn corrects him for being too much of a protective older brother. Theon surmises that it must be jealousy Jon feels. Gendry talks about being in the police academy, and yes, he passed Benjen’s background check as well.

Gendry is also the first one to leave.

“If I could, I would stay. Uncle Stannis has it out for me ever since I let Shireen touch my gun. Half the Lannisters will get drunk. Uncle Renly doesn’t know a thing about keeping PDA more private than public. It’s like going straight into a zoo pit.” Gendry scolds when Arya laughs. “Keep my sanity in your prayers.”

Together, Jojen and Meera leave. It shocks Theon to know that the Reeds live just up the road across the street. In the Stark’s part of town, Theon has never been anywhere beyond their house.

“I have to get to the office,” Edmure says at the door. His uncle stands behind him ready to leave as well. Edmure has his hands on his father’s walker handles. Theon wonders how often Hoster frequents that same hospital. “Call me when you get an update on Robb. We’ll need all hands on deck if we’re to complete this merger with the Freys.”

Catelyn looks between her husband and brother. “I still don’t think a merger with the Frey Co. is a good idea. They’ll be expecting Robb, not you.”

“Don’t worry, Cat,” Eddard says. “They’re well aware of Robb’s current status. It’s a change of plans but I’m sure they’ll understand.”

“This was meant to be a test to see if Robb is ready to take over the company yet. That very well can’t happen if Edmure closes the merger.” Catelyn responds. She looks put out that they’re talking business when they should be more worried about their son.

Jon tugs at his arm abruptly, distracting Theon from eavesdropping too much longer. They have a total of four cars that they’ll be taking to the hospital. Jon is taking his own car with Theon as his passenger now. The man doesn’t even wait for the rest of the family before he’s pushing Theon into the car and slamming the door shut.

“Sorry about that. This family never moves when it gets on the topic of work. I figured it’s best to get you to the hospital to get those wedding contacts before Sansa comes up with her own.” Jon lets out a bitter laugh that Theon thinks doesn’t suit him. “She’s been planning her wedding since she was seven.”

Theon forces a smile. “Right, can’t forget that. Why would my fiance in a coma be more important than a wedding? I suppose she won’t accept that we planned to stay engaged for awhile before marriage.”

Jon shrugs. “Beats me, but now that she’s put herself in charge of the whole thing, she won’t be taking many no’s for an answer.”

…

There are no contacts for a wedding in Robb’s phone. The thing has a password but luckily, when the family all diverts their attention to the nurse who enters the room, he crosses his fingers and holds Robb’s thumb against the home button with bated breath. Within a second the phone opens.

“Please tell me that you’ve been using someone from Targaryen Events. Dany is one of the most sought out planners in New York. And flowers! The Tyrell arrangements are to die for. Margaery has such an eye for color, I’m jealous.” Sansa gushes, leaning over with her hair cascading around the phone screen as Theon fumbles with maneuvering around Robb’s pages of apps. (Someone has too much time on their hands to alphabetize and categorize all the applications.)

He looks up at Jon for help who just holds waves his keys around in mock surrender. “I, uh, I don’t know. He’s asked me for opinions on the wedding before but I don’t think he’s shared that many specifics before. Perhaps?”

Sansa looks appalled. “Well, I’m sure that he’s been planning nothing but the best for the man he plans to marry. Gosh, Theon, you’re lucky you found someone like Robb. He loves planning, you … you seem to do well with getting to work on time. You two are like yin and yang. It’s meant to be.”

Theon smiles, small and shy. He thought that too before he met Jon. Jon created more questions about whether or not he should bail at any moment than Theon ever expected before. “Yeah. Just like soul mates.”

From where she stands, Arya pretends to barf. “Oh my god, we finally found someone who thinks soul mates exist other than Sansa. It’s a miracle. You’re really one of a kind.”

“Be nicer to your sister. I fell in love at first sight with your mother. You’ll come to understand what love feels like one day.” Eddard shakes his head.

“Whatever, that’s not important now. What’s important,” Sansa butts in, “is that if Robb even dared to hire second best help for this wedding, I’m going to fix it. All I need are a few ideas and I’ll make them all come alive. This wedding will be what sets off my future career specialization in wedding planning.”

“You aren’t going to get into the family business either?” Theon asks, surprised. From all that he’s heard, almost every Stark he’s met has been involved in the same company. So far only Sansa and Jon have said anything about it. It's like a taboo topic within the family.

“I’ve done summer internships but that was because I _had_ to, not because I wanted to. I know all it’ll take is one meeting with Dany Targaryen and I’ll have an instant future in with that company. She’ll be so impressed that one day they’ll have to hire me.” Sansa says proudly. Eddard, while not surprised, does look disappointed.

Feeling something odd in the air, Theon changes the subject. “I’m glad to hear you have everything sorted out for yourself. Now that I know Robb is alright, I have to go. My shift starts in two hours. I’d love to stay but traffic.” He smiles sheepishly.

“It’s alright. We’ll call you if we get any updates.” Catelyn promises. “Oh wait, I actually don’t think I ever got your number. Why don’t we do that now before we forget?”

By the time he leaves, he leaves with not only Catelyn’s but Eddard, Sansa, and Arya’s phone numbers. Theon sees the way Benjen looks surprised that he already has Jon’s number programmed into his contacts. He isn’t sure what kind of police work the man does but Theon is pretty sure it’s not exactly rookie chores. Arya did mention something about him being in the CIA before.

On the drive to the train station Theon continues to look at the new names. He never got around to ever deleting his family member’s numbers. They all remain unused on his phone. By now he’s positive that other people must have their numbers. He called Asha’s number once on her anniversary and a very confused teenage boy on the other line picked up. It was the first and last time he ever did that.

A hand on his shoulder snaps him out of his reverie. “You’re good to walk the rest of the way, right?”

“I do it all the time. Thanks for driving me.” Theon answers.

Jon nods. “No problem. It’s New York. There’s too many cars and too little spaces. I have some work of my own to get to in this area anyway. It’s no big deal.”

Out of curiousity, Theon took time to look up the Stark company address before. He knows it’s nowhere near the station. It makes his heart swell. “Still, thank you. I could’ve just taken a cab.”

“Well if you’re going to be a pain in the ass about it, next time I’ll let you do what you want. We’ll see who gets the last laugh. I’ll be in my warm car and you’ll be in a dinky cab paying some guy who can’t drive worth a damn more money than deserved.” Jon holds his hand out, smirking. “That’ll be thirty five, fifty five.”

Theon rolls his eyes, slapping Jon’s hand with his own. “You’ve proven your point. I’ll see you later.”

From the reflection of the bus stop Theon sees Jon’s car sitting there until he’s rounded the corner. In short, life would really, really be easier if Jon was more of a jerk.

…

At work, Jon gets all the stuff that Robb usually has to handle on top of his own daily assignments. He arrives at work, gives the interns all their meaningless tasks, and proceeds to hide in his corner office until something important enough forces him to come out.

If he wasn’t jealous of all the things Robb had before, he certainly isn’t now. Eddard comes to his office at least three times a day, sometimes even sending his secretary instead. It takes three days for Jon to get tired of it all. He didn’t mind having an insignificant position in the company. Now that he has a small taste of what it’s like to actually matter, he quite likes how much easier things were before.

“We have another fax from Robert Baratheon. Your father wanted you to proofread the return fax.”

Jon sighs, rubbing his face. He wishes he could be in a better mood around the interns. He’s seen the way that Petyr Baelish, the company’s Treasurer of the Board treats them, but sometimes it’s not possible to even fake a smile. Instead, he hurriedly holds out his hand for both documents. The faster he can read through them, the faster he can go back to his own work.

“Gilly,” he says, watching how the intern turns around, eyes wide. “I need you to cancel my five o’clock appointment. At this rate I won’t have time for anything else other than what’s on my desk. Mance will have to wait a bit longer.”

The girl gulps. “Mr. Rayder isn’t a fan of waiting, sir.”

“I know, but he’ll have to understand that I’m doing the work for two men right now which means I have twice the meetings and twice the paperwork to deal with.” Jon stands up from his chair, straightening his suit and tie. “How do I look, Gilly? Do I look alright?”

“Of course, sir. You clean up very nicely.” She bobs her head, clutching her clipboard to her chest.

Hands on his hips, Jon looks at the mess on his desk. High piles of paperwork has taken over each corner of his desk. Even the calendar on his desk is covered between the desktop keyboard and the extra laptop sitting on top the Frey merger plan information binder that he hasn’t even gotten to reading yet. Up until Robb entered the hospital, Jon had only heard of the merger through the grapevine. With Eddard’s right hand man in a coma, that left Jon to at least become a body so it looked like someone picked up the slack.

“Do you think I should keep the black tie or change ties? I have extra ones in my desk.” Jon checks his watch. He has twenty minutes until he has to be in a meeting with his father and the rest of the board members.

Gilly considers the options, then decides, “Keep the black tie. Black suits you well, no pun intended.”

Jon breaks out into a small grin. There was a reason why he decided out of all the incompetent interns, Gilly became his immediate favorite. “Of course, thank you. I think I’m ready.”

“What about the fax?”

He pauses, gritting his teeth. “If my father thinks I’m going to keep jumping through hoops like some kind of circus animal, he has another thing coming. He knows about this meeting later so that he gave his assignment - this nonsense busywork - to me, is almost an insult.” Jon stops to think about just sending the letter as is. “It’ll have to wait. Now excuse me, Gilly, I have an appointment in Hell to get to.”

Still fiddling with his tie down the hall, Jon hears the clicking of heels rushing after him. What he sees is Gilly running to him while waving his merger binder, cheeks flushed. She takes a gasp of air when she gets to him.

“I can’t believe I forgot. Sorry about that,” he says, taking the binder. Jon peers at the girl curiously. “Please tell me you’ll listen to Sam and go on maternity leave soon. You’ll miss your chance if you wait any longer and you need your proper rest.”

“Can’t,” she pants, “need … this job.” Gilly improvises, using the clipboard as a fan. “Sam would like to keep me home but we both have jobs to do. My sister watches the baby during the day so we can both work. This internship is very important to me. Sam got it for me.”

Jon rolls his eyes. “Sam has been my best friend for six years. If he thinks I’m going to let you lose your internship because of maternity leave, he underestimates my power in this company.”

Gilly laughs. “Perhaps it’s you that overestimates your power in this company.”

In front of them the elevator dings and the doors slide open. “I’m part Jon and part Robb nowadays. Let me pretend in peace, Gilly.”

“Of course, Mr. Stark.” She steps back, bowing her head while resisting to laugh.

The elevator doors come to a close. He stops two floors up, his father with his secretary on his heels entering. They both look at him, check to see if he has any kinks in his suit and then they turn around. It’s almost better that way. With the chrome elevator walls (apparently the idea was supposed to take on a futuristic aesthetic) they can still keep in sight so they can exchange silent words about him.

Robb being in the hospital means Robb’s secretary is almost bossless. While Gilly thought there would be a possibility of her beginning to work for Jon, Jon knew otherwise. Instead, Baelish landed himself another assistant without even lifting a finger.

Next, as if summoned on cue, Baelish comes through the elevator doors. His secretary - not Robb’s - hands him off a folder and a fancy tablet before running off. The man looks smugly over his shoulder. People call him Littlefinger but Jon knows that this guy certainly isn’t little. He’s managed to get his hands all over the company somehow. He would’ve never gotten into the company either had it not been for Catelyn.

By the time they reach the correct floor, Jon finds himself pushed against the back of the elevator. Being the first one in made him the last one to get out.

Something tells Jon that this meeting will be an interesting one.

…

Theon rushes from the station to the hospital, thankful that he was smart enough to take his car to work instead of using the subway. The hospital called him frantic that his fiance had woken up and was immediately calling all family on the emergency card. He figures that the Starks must have had some police escort to the hospital because traffic was terrible and yet they still beat him there.

“Oh, finally Theon is here!” Sansa announces, spotting him first. She beckons him closer, grinning.

In bed, Robb blinks, rubbing his eyes. “Theon? Who’s Theon?”

Bran sighs with Meera and Jojen are standing around the wheelchair. They all came together since Jojen is always with Bran and the only one who can drive is Meera. “Theon is your fiance. Don’t worry, though. We like him. He’s possibly the best thing that’s ever happened to us.”

“Fiance? I don’t have a fiance named Theon. I don’t have a fiance at all.” Robb denies. Theon tries not to visibly flinch. While he knew he had to come clean one day, he didn’t imagine it would be in the hospital right when the man woke up.

Disappointed, Sansa frowns. “Well, boyfriends can become fiances. It’s okay to take your time.”

“No, really, I don’t have a fiance.” Robb takes a long look at Theon, puzzled, “I don’t even know this guy.”

“Robb, we understand if you were afraid of telling us. It’s alright. We approve of you marrying Theon. He’s practically one of us already. Sansa will be glad to pick up any of the wedding plans that you aren’t in the condition of monitoring and you’ll be back on your feet before you know it.” Catelyn says, rubbing her son’s arm supportingly.

“Mother, I’m being serious! I don’t know him.” Robb says resembling a child whining about playing with someone he doesn’t like.

Just as Theon opens his mouth to explain, Rickon dramatically holds his father’s arms and shakes them. “Robb has amnesia!”

So much for solving things here.

“Someone get the doctor,” Edmure says. Catelyn shoots him a look. “I’ll go get the doctor.”

All things considered, it’s about time that his luck runs out. Theon knows things like this only happens in movies. His life isn’t a movie. He’s no protagonist in a rom-com. This is real life and in real life messes like the one Theon has managed to get himself into do not solve themselves. All that comes from these kinds of thing is heartbreak and disappointment.

Suddenly, Arya claps her hands over both his cheeks, balancing on her tip toes. “Don’t worry about Robb. He’ll snap out of it.” For a brief moment she winks before turning to the rest of her family. “Theon and I are going to have a chat in the hall. Poor guy looks like his future husband can’t remember who he is.” Catelyn frowns. “Too soon?”

Theon grimaces. He doesn’t want an audience when he finally has his mental breakdown. Roughly, he takes Arya by the wrist and tugs her into down the hall past the nurses’ station. He doesn’t want them overhearing either. It was embarrassing enough to have to run past Jon like that. Jon who went from not wanting his brother anywhere near Theon to actually liking him.

“What do we do now?”

Arya shrugs. “Honestly, I didn’t think this far. Don’t worry, though, I’ll handle it.”

For some reason, Theon doesn’t believe her. “Your family is going to hate me now. I’m going to have to give the only gift I’ve gotten in the past five years back.”

“Ouch, that’s pretty harsh. All you need to do is wait a little bit longer, until New Year’s. I’ll have everything sorted out by then. Promise.”

“That’s in two days.” Theon begins pacing, arms folded, his fingers wildly tapping against his side.

“Perfect! That’s one day to think of a plan and another day to make it happen.” Arya gives him a look that makes him feel like the idiot here.

“We have to go back. If we’re gone too long, your family will get suspicious.” He says nervously. His whole body is thrumming, his heart beating much faster than what a doctor would deem normal or healthy for that matter.

While Arya rolls her eyes, she doesn’t disagree. They walk back to see the doctor checking Robb’s vitals personally along with shining a small light into his eyes. The man looks puzzled. People with Robb’s kind of head injury don’t typically get amnesia. In fact, it’s even rarer to get the kind of amnesia that Rickon is insisting his older brother has. Still, the doctor concludes that tests must be made to make sure.

In short, the whole entire thing is a mess. Between the way Sansa is now devastated over what this will to do her wedding plans and Jon rubbing his back as if that helps, Theon really can’t hold back the word vomit his conscious wants him to spit out so badly.

“I have to tell you something.”

The glare Arya shoots him is deadly.

“Son,” Eddard says and if Theon felt guilty before, he feels twice that now, “I understand Robb not remembering you must be hard, but he’ll come around. We’ll get the best doctors around if that’s what it takes. First, we have to just wait and see if he can remember on his own.”

“No, that’s not it. I …” Theon begins only to be smacked aside from Arya.

“Targaryen Events dropped him.” Arya puts her hands on her hips. “He went all bridezilla on the company and now Sansa has to start all over from scratch. Not to mention this little amnesia problem is yet another setback Theon does not need.”

Sansa sees red. “You had something going with Targaryen Events and you _screwed_ it up?”

On the other hand, Benjen pinches the bridge of his nose. “I wouldn’t exactly categorize Robb’s amnesia as a little problem here. Not only does he not remember Theon but now he won’t be able to identify the men who mugged him either. That case will have gone cold by the time Robb remembers, _if_ he remembers.”

The doctor prevents anyone else from giving Theon a rose headache. He holds a stern expression. “I would highly suggest you allow Robb to stay with us at least another day to do some testing. His head wound has healed quite nicely so all we want to check up on is possible brain damage. We did scans when he was admitted but perhaps the machines missed something.”

Both Eddard and Catelyn say their thanks, following the doctor out of the door.

…

“It’s time to abort the mission.”

Theon never had a time where he felt Jeyne was more right than she is now. Still, her advice is easier said than done. The doctor told the Starks it was best to gradually reintroduce Theon into Robb’s life. That it would be best to take all precautionary measures as to not overwhelm their son. At this point it would be easy to just run away and never come back. Nobody would have to know that was ever associated with Robb Stark.

He can’t though.

“I know what you’re thinking Theon. Whatever it is probably is a bad idea. Just come clean.” Jeyne emphasizes. “I’d love to continue hearing how you’re torturing yourself but my break ends in ten. I’ll see you at work tomorrow, right?”

“Right.”

“Bye Theon.”

“Bye Jeyne.”

Groaning, Theon wonders how hard he would have to hit his head against the apartment wall in order to give _himself_ amnesia. Worse case scenario, it doesn’t work and he has to go to the hospital himself. Preferably somewhere in another state. Best case scenario it does work and the Starks have what they believe is two cases of amnesia on their hands. Robb will eventually realize he was always fine and Theon can be blissfully in his own world.

A loud knock on his door stops him.

On the way there Theon nearly trips over Pyke. He curses, wondering how that cat manages to be in the worst places all the time. He spoils the thing but that’s irrelevant.

“So, you, me and Ice Capades. Change your mind?” Ramsay asks, cocking his hip against the door frame once Theon opens the door.

He lets out a bitter laugh. “Not in the mood, Ramsay.”

By the time the bastard has his mouth open to say something else, Theon has already closed the door. If only he had decided to date Ramsay. Or anyone else for that matter. Then he wouldn’t have been so smitten with Robb Stark.

Stomping back into his kitchen, he’s forced to spin on his heel when another knock comes to his door. Theon grits his teeth. Ramsay just doesn’t know when to give up.

“I am not going to Ice Capades with you!” he shouts angrily, throwing open his door to reveal a disheveled Jon.

“That’s not why I’m here, but I’ll keep it in mind.” Jon says slowly as if not to anger Theon further.

Theon has never experienced a full body sigh before until now. He exhales big, leaning his head back as he gestures to let Jon inside. While he knew he wouldn’t have to deal with Robb any time soon, he didn’t see Jon walking into his apartment. (He did hope for it a little bit though.)

“You alright?”

Theon has so many things he could say. He could tell Jon that he’s stressed out. That he’s impossibly nervous that Robb and the others will find out about the lie and they’ll hate him. That if something like that happens he’ll probably never see Jon again. By the end of the day it’s possible that Benjen might show up at his door with a pair of cuffs for impersonating Robb’s nonexistent fiance.

It makes Theon’s stomach lurch in his throat seeing how comfortable Jon is to just walk into his apartment and take a seat in his living room. Not good.

“I know it’s been a long day for you. Are you alright?” Jon asks again, raising his hands for Pyke to climb onto his lap.

When Theon chooses to sit in the chair farthest away from Jon, the man doesn’t comment on it. “I think I am. Robb doesn’t remember me.”

He thinks about all the times Robb greeted him in the morning, looking him directly in the eye. It was like there was no hint of recognition. He never thought about how it would feel when Robb finally looked at him and saw him. Turns out it was a lot less exciting. His heart didn’t speed up like it does when Jon says something to him.

“He will.” Jon smiles, leaning away when Pyke plants his palms on Jon’s chest and tries to paw at his face. “Doc says there’s a high chance that he’ll remember since there didn’t appear to be any brain damage. Rickon is running around saying it must be some kind of psychological thing like he’s Dr. Phil.”

Theon frowns. Together they look so domestic sitting in the living room, Pyke making himself at home in Jon’s personal space. Theon can’t count how many times he’s relied on Jon driving him around instead of taking his own car.

“Whatever it is, I just want him to remember,” he says dully. The sooner Robb comes to see he doesn’t have amnesia and calls Theon out on being a stranger, the sooner he won’t have to worry about anything else.

Gingerly, Jon takes Pyke by the scruff of his neck. The cat wildly kicks his legs so it seems like he’s walking as Jon removes the animal from his lap. Jon drops him to the floor and watches how Pyke stumbles to keep upright on all four legs.

Unsettled about the way Jon is looking at him so concerned, Theon gets up. Pyke chooses that moment to sit right on top of his owner’s feet. “Tea?”

“Of course.”

…

The doctor discharges Robb in actuality three days later on good behavior, a clean bill of health, and needing another room for someone recently out of the recovery room. Excited, Sansa picks up Theon in a flashy Mercedes with getting Robb at the hospital as the ultimate destination. He makes to sit in the back but gets yelled at for being ridiculous.

“Okay, so the wedding will have to wait until next year but don’t worry, I’ll be taking care of everything.” Sansa reassures him. It doesn’t help. “Robb is a bit of a control freak so he’ll just have to deal with it. Apparently Jon is complaining a lot at work about having to do two jobs, blah, blah, blah.”

Theon laughs. Even though Sansa intimidates him, she’ll be someone he’ll miss, especially after her encounter with Ramsay.

“I can’t believe he talks to you like that!” Sansa jabbed a finger against Theon’s chest. “He’s such a dirtbag. You aren’t a piece of meat.” Thanks, Sansa. “And what was all that about Ice Capades? The only people who are at the Ice Capades are just past their prime. They need to learn when to quit.”

Pulling into a parking spot, Sansa gives Theon a steady look. It’s the only thing that really makes her look like Arya’s sister for sure. Otherwise the two sisters are nearly polar opposites.

“Ready to see your fiance?” the girl asks.

He considers what he could possibly say that would be appropriate because, no, he’s not ready.

“Yeah,” he chokes out instead.

Sansa looks at him consolingly. “Great. Let’s get up there. The sooner we get Robb, the sooner we can leave. I’m sure he’s tired of the hospital already.”

Theon can feel for that only with a different reason why. Sansa must interpret his silence for something else the way she looks at him. From the times Theon has spent with the girl, she almost never stays silent for too long. Today she does. She just observes how he stands aside the whole time intently listening to the list of medications Robb will start having to take.

The car ride back to the Stark mansion is no different.

With how many people waited at the door for them, Theon can swear he got an elbow to the face. Everyone is there to see Robb. Even Hoster, who Theon swears looks like he’s the next one to end up in the hospital, rises from his walker chair to give his grandson a hug. The man coughs all the way back to his chair with no regrets.

At dinner, things go the same way. There isn’t a single person who doesn’t want to sit next to Robb. (Jojen and Gendry possibly being the only exceptions.) However, when Grey Wind shows his teeth and bares his claws, the noise dies down. Theon tries not to be too thankful that when the Starks come after him he might get a little reluctance from one of the Stark beasts.

“Grey Wind is right,” Bran says as if he speaks dog, “Theon should be the one to sit next to Robb.”

Catelyn takes a deep sigh. “At least that leaves another side for his mother, right?” She smiles prettily at Robb. Theon thinks it’s meant to be friendly but Theon thinks it’s a silent threat to say yes.

Things end up just like that. Catelyn at the head of the table, Robb next to her and Theon next to him. Jon takes his seat at the other end of the table near Eddard. Theon would feel abandoned if not for Arya plopping down right in front of him. She winks, kicking Theon’s foot from underneath the table. All the shock hurts more than his foot.

“What did the doctor say about your amnesia?” Benjen asks, cutting into his steak. He’s still in his uniform, gun attached to his hip, Theon recalls seeing.

Robb shifts in his chair. A bandage covers where the IV was only hours ago. “He said it’ll come back eventually. There isn’t any brain damage to indicate anything too serious. No psychological trauma either. I took a test before they discharged me.”

Theon could tell the family a million reasons why nothing came up on the scans, why the test came up with nothing.

“That’s great, honey,” Catelyn nods encouragingly for more information. The doctor would only disclose so much information without Robb’s personal permission.

Robb taps his fork on the table.

Eddard groans. “Let’s save this for later, Cat. Let’s have a nice dinner first.”

Dinner consists of Theon keeping his head down. He nods and makes supportive comments when appropriate.

Routinely, the Starks all help out to clean up the mess, filtering between the dining room and kitchen. It’s just messy enough that he can steal Arya for the moment. He drags her into the hall where they won’t be found easily.

“Please tell me you have that plan sorted out.” Theon says.

Arya breaks out into a smile. “I do. Wait and see, by the end of the night, things will be perfect.”

Desert begins with giving Sansa the perfect opportunity to whip out her phone and shove it right underneath her brother’s nose. Jon grimaces, suddenly finding his cake more interesting. Theon’s eyes widen seeing an email from Targaryen Events addressed to Robb Stark and Theon Greyjoy.

“You’re lucky I know this business. We can put off the wedding for a little while if you really need the time to recover.” Sansa grins, proud of herself. “It’s not ideal having to put off the date but I’m thinking that they’ll understand. This is a special case.”

Arya kicks Theon again. Something landing on the floor near his feet puts him off until a dog lapping at his feet clears the confusion.

“So, Robb,” Arya prepares her phone in her hand, “we missed the first proposal so it’s only fair if you do it again. I’ll record it so you won’t forget this time.”

Obviously, the plan Theon thought Arya had come up with was not what he thought it would be. His ideal plan had something to do with getting out of his mess, not getting himself deeper into it by marrying into the Stark family. Otherwise known as the very thing that got him into the very mess in the first place. It would’ve helped if the both of them were on the same page before jumping into things.

“Right now?” Robb asks, blushing. Theon used to think it was endearing, now he’s more concerned with the way Jon looks sick so suddenly.

“It’s okay, really. We don’t have to do this now.” Theon shakes his head, laughing nervously. “Feel free to take your time to fully heal before doing this again. No rush. Sansa said we have until November. You’re still talking November, right?”

Sansa nods mechanically, a grin plastered on her face.

“No, I guess if I proposed to you as fast as everyone says I did it won’t hurt to do it again.” Robb wipes his hands though they’re not dirty. “Maybe sans the camera. I don’t think I’ll forget the proposal this time.”

“Great. We can’t afford this mess again.” Arya puts the phone down, propping her elbow up and leaning on her hand. Her mother corrects her, not that it does any good.

Robb considers what that mess is, thinking it’s his coma accident. Then he looks at Theon, taking his left hand carefully.

“You don’t have a ring,” he says, brows furrowed.

“No, no, I don’t have a ring. I - we decided to forgo the ring. It was my idea.” Theon stutters.

In frustration, Sansa throws her hands up in the air. “And Robb listened? I swear sometimes, he’s such a guy. Theon deserves a ring. I mean, look what he’s done for us. We’ve never spent this many holidays together before.”

As far as Theon knows, it’s just two but apparently that’s two more than usual for the Starks.

“Should I kneel?” Robb asks. Theon doesn’t totally hear him. “I didn’t think men had to kneel when there was no ring. Okay. Okay, I get it, I’ll kneel.”

Once again Robb is holding his hand, chair pulled aside as he kneels. Theon thinks the image is wrong. Robb has the wrong hair color, the wrong expression on his face, the wrong nervous habit. He looks too confidently into Theon’s eyes for someone who just woke up and was informed of the unimaginable.

“Okay, so I understand that I don’t remember you and that must hurt being my fiance and all but give it time, and I’ll make sure I remember. I’m assuming I love you a lot since I proposed so soon so, I have to ask again, will you marry me?”

The man looks so hopeful it hurts.

Theon stands up, wringing his hands together. “I … I can’t.”

Eddard leans back into his chair, covering his whole face with his hands.

“I can’t. I can’t marry you. If you had asked me before the accident, I would’ve said yes. Gods I would’ve said yes not even knowing what I was going to get into. But I’ve lied to you guys and I can’t do it anymore. Robb and I were never engaged. The nurse at the hospital overheard me talking to myself and created this whole misunderstanding. Not that I lied to the police. I never lied to the police. I did save Robb just not as his fiance. I work at the train station.” Theon bites his bottom lip so hard he thinks he may have made himself bleed a little bit. With all of that off his chest, he feels no better than he felt before.

Robb slumps onto the floor, leaning against the chair he vacated. “Oh god. My memory is fine then. I’m not insane.”

Arya curses. “This is not part of the plan!”

Catelyn looks astonished. “You knew too? You knew that we were being lied to and you just let it happen. Why would you do it?”

“I fell in love.” Theon confesses, heaving a heavy sigh. (“That’s a given.” Sansa rolls her eyes in between.) “Not with who you think though. Jon. I fell in love with Jon. And the rest of you guys too. I fell in love with this entire family and didn’t want to let it go. My sister died, my father died and now my mother is so depressed that she can’t leave her room since she was baker acted months after his passing. My brothers died even longer before my sister. It’s been just me for the longest time but then I got a taste of family and I just realized how much I missed it.”

The family’s mother looks scandalized. Benjen rolls his eyes like he knew this was coming. Jon had always said his uncle knew him best perhaps.

“I just don’t understand.” Catelyn holds her head in her hands.

“Sansa just said it,” Arya argues, “when was the last time we spent this much time together? Sure it was shitty that it had to happen in a hospital but it happened. I’m sick of only seeing my family during the holidays and that’s it. I have more quality time with people at Renaissance camp than here.”

Now with Arya getting excited, Catelyn also begins raising her voice only to be overshadowed by her husband arguing back. Benjen joins the mess to support Eddard, Edmure for Catelyn. While Robb comes down from his panic attack Theon considers slipping away.

The first time that something is thrown, Theon decides that that wouldn’t be a bad idea.

He leaves and nobody stops him.

…

Jeyne returns from her vacation at her family’s house with a big rock on her finger. Theon beams. He ruined his fake engagement and his best friend came back with a real one.

“I’m happy for you,” he says.

From the other side of the booth, Jeyne frowns. “You broke up with your coma guy, didn’t you?”

Breaking up doesn’t begin to describe what happened. “I told them what happened and it didn’t end well. They all started arguing so bad that they barely noticed I left.” Theon wraps his hands around his coffee mug, fingers tingling. “It wasn’t going to last. We knew that when the whole thing started. I’m surprised it lasted as long as it did.”

“You did the right thing.” Jeyne shrugs her shoulders. “Have any of them contacted you since?”

“Nope. I’d be surprised if they did. They probably hate me now.”

The waitress gives Theon a hint of a smile when she picks up his plate. The whole time they’ve been eating at the diner they’ve been going back and forth between discussing Theon’s Ultimate Crisis (Jeyne’s name) and anything that Theon can come up with to change subjects. By now the woman has probably gotten the gist of the mess.

“You have work this afternoon?”

“Nope,” he shakes his head. He’s much too depressed to go to work immediately. “I’m have the morning shift tomorrow morning.”

They pay before splitting up. Jeyne heading out for her evening shift; Theon for home where it’ll be just him and his cat.

Pyke nearly trips him on the way in. At least the cat knows not to run out of the apartment. After doing it once and getting lost, Pyke never did it again. People don’t lie when they say cats are smart creatures.

“It’s just you and me again, Pyke.” Theon says, looking down at the cat weaving between his ankles. He’s been so spoiled eating homemade food from the Starks that microwavable meals don’t have the same appeal anymore. Catelyn wasn’t half bad baking plus they had their own personal family chef.

He ate just like that. Disappointed. Nothing tasted the same, nor did much feel the same either.

Theon’s car refuses to start in the morning. He tries to use it to take it to work since he doesn’t use it for much else any other time. Not when he had Jon to drive him around. Once he’s done slamming his fists on his dashboard he gives up and makes a race to catch up to a cab. None of them stop even as he tries to run after them waving his arm.

A cabbie who finds it amusing to watch Theon picks him up and has him at work only ten minutes late.

…

Theon collects tokens with an empty mind. Instead of putting them where they belong he organizes them in stacks. He’s able to collect over twenty of them together before it begins to lean and the whole thing falls, leaving Theon to pretend it never happened as patrons continue to pass by. Only once lunch time passes is he able to have enough time slip out from his chair to collect all the tokens properly.

As he tries to stand up, he bumps his head on the lip of the counter.

The sound of metal clinking on each other causes Theon to curse underneath his breath. Rodrik is doing his rounds between booths and Theon doesn’t want to get caught doing something stupid. He’s already in enough of a bad mood.

Straightening up he sees Jon. Jon who looks no different from when they last saw either other. Jon who looks devastatingly good for someone with snow all over him. There’s no mistaking it from the way his cheeks look so pink that he’s freezing. The leather coat does nothing but make him look good. Underneath the coat is a suit that makes him look like he’s going to work but Theon knows the train schedule and the next train on the way will only take him in the opposite direction.

“I’m sorry it’s not a token but I hope that you’ll take it.” Jon says, smiling. It’s so genuine that it’s almost as if Jon hadn’t been in contact with him since dinner.

“W-What?” he sputters, too caught off guard to do anything else but stare.

Jon taps the glass between them. “I gave you something instead of a token. I’m kind of hoping that you’ll accept it and let me through.”

Suspicious, Theon looks down into the token bin where instead of a token there’s a singular silver band sitting inside. A silver band. A silver engagement band that looks just his size.

Theon takes a deep breath and does his best to keep a stoic face. “Sorry, sir, I can’t let you through without a token.”

“You won’t even consider it?” Jon asks, bracing his forearm against the glass to lean forward. To the woman standing behind him watching the odd proposal Jon must look smooth but to Theon he just looks like a dork, he can’t hold in a smile much longer.

Removing the ring from the bin, Theon examines the ring, tempted to slip it on his finger. He would but he would rather Jon do it. The man just needs to work for it a little bit first. “No, sir, no can do. Token, please.”

Jon laughs little puffs of hot breath on the glass. “You drive a hard bargain but if that what it takes.”

Instead of one token in the bin, two drop in instead. Theon raises a brow but buzzes Jon through all the same. He watches Jon usher the woman in first. She swoons, wishing him good luck. Even as she walks away, she still stays within distance to watch the booth.

“You think I should kneel?” Jon asks.

He pretends to think about it. “Yeah, I think you should.”

“Okay, fine.” The man laughs, reaching for Theon’s hand. It makes him think that Jon wants to hold his hand but instead he just slips the wedding ring away from his grasp. Jon promptly kneels, jokingly clearing his throat. “Ahem. Sorry. Frog in the throat. Theon, I’ve had to fight two of my siblings to come here today to see you. Whatever my sisters say are all lies except for one. I’m pretty madly in love with you. Will you marry me?”

Theon grins, swirling around in his chair. Jon looks oddly nice kneeling on the ground in front of him. “Yes. Of course, yes.”

Jon raises his hand to slip the ring on Theon’s finger but instead Theon moves to cup the man on the face and lean down for a kiss. Their height difference is just perfect enough that when Jon wraps his arms around Theon they can close the entire gap head to toe without bumping too many body parts. It's the perfect moment between soul mates, Theon thinks. The kind of moment that even Asha wouldn't dare tease.

They kiss and they don’t even stop until angry banging on the window disrupts them. It doesn’t matter. By November they’ll be married anyway.

…

**OCTOBER**

Sansa nearly cries more hearing the wedding can’t be in November like she had planned since she was young then she actually does at the wedding. The only consolation is when Jon manages to pull strings through mysterious connections to land his sister a cushy paid internship at Targaryen Events.

Jon and Theon’s first dance happens surrounded by a stage outlined with flowers all to fit their winter personalities. After Theon and Jon are torn apart to dance with the rest of the Stark family. Theon manages to get away with the excuse that Arya stomped on his toes too many times, abandoning Jon on the dance floor with an aunt that neither one of them have ever heard of.

Sitting down at the front of the room feels very unusual but as soon as he sees Jon in the distance twirling Sansa around in a circle it almost makes sense. The cake was made to perfection, all three tiers. Sansa made sure to find one of the best companies, she made sure of it. It even had a custom cake topper with two grooms. Somehow Sansa even managed to find a venue that would allow pets. All of the Stark dogs sit tethered to chairs at a table all for themselves.

“I’m happy for you guys,” Robb says, sliding into the chair next to Theon. His bowtie is crooked from him fiddling with it so much before the best man’s speech.

Theon grins. “Thanks. We’re real happy.”

“How’d you know?” he asks Theon. “How’d you know that Jon was the one? It all happened so fast.”

 **  
** “Well,” Theon allows himself another piece of cake when a server comes around with a tray, “it's a long story but it all began while you were sleeping.”

**Author's Note:**

> (BONUS SCENE)
> 
> A little flash of the Stark name and suddenly Rodrik is as enamored with Theon's fiance as Theon is. He and Jon talk business while Theon counts tokens. By the end of his shift he makes it out with only one hickey and fresh bitten lips. It embarrasses Theon at first to have to walk through the parking lot so disheveled but then he remembers the ring on his finger. Then after fighting for ten minutes over whose house they're going to go to (Theon wins since his apartment is closer than the mansion), he barely remembers it at all.
> 
> For the first time in a long time, Theon has a man stay over at his apartment. When the sun peeks through the curtains there's no cat on the bed, only a handsome man wrapping his arms around Theon. He would fight being the little spoon until Jon gets a creative idea to convince his new fiance to stay in bed. It doesn't take much but a couple kisses to convince him. Only Jon's alarm can separate them.
> 
> "Theon," Ramsay says, eyeing Jon over Theon's shoulder, "you have to choose. Him or me. You can't have both."
> 
> Theon smirks while watching Jon go down the stairs. The man's shirt is rumpled and his pants, although dirty, give Theon a pretty good view from behind. It's a no contest situation. "That's easy. Him."


End file.
